It seemed like a long wait, but it was only fifteen minutes when the welcome appearance of the shuttle was heard outside the cave. Only minutes later, Kam and two medics arrived with a floating gurney.
T-Bone eyed the strange conveyance with curiosity. It was obvious the Arcanians had developed anti-gravity devices. He watched anxiously as the medics used their more futuristic medical tools to stabilize Jake then gently place him on the gurney. Soon they were all following it as it was floated out of the cavern and toward the shuttle.
Though he hated doing it, T-Bone was forced to watch them load his partner, off load the capture cage then watch as the shuttle soared quickly back in space...without him. He wanted desperately to be by his friend's side but there was a serious job that needed getting done. Sighing to himself, he turned away and helped Genus take the cage to the Turbokat and store it before the two headed back into the cavern. It was going to be a long morning.
~o~o~o~o~
Aboard the Wotan and unaware of the problems encountered by the SWAT Kats, Callie waited nervously for her procedure to begin. She'd just arrived less than fifteen minutes ago and had been escorted to the medical bay by Kam who stayed by her side to offer emotional support.
It helped that Abi was standing close to her other side, a paw gently caressing her back to help soothe her nerves.
The nurse she'd met on her previous visit appeared through a doorway, smiling warmly at her. "Hello, Ms. Briggs. If you'll come with me, we'll get you prepared for the procedure," Kayleen said, gesturing for Callie to follow her. Her two companions remained behind to wait.
A few minutes later, Kayleen returned to retrieve Dr. Sinian and was surprised to find Kam gone. She gave the pretty brown she-kat a questioning look.
"Lt. Kam was called by his Captain for an emergency of some kind," Abi told her.
"Oh, well, I'm glad you're here for Callie then. Please follow me, Dr. Sinian," Kayleen said turning to lead the way.
Abi was lead into a small chamber. Callie was laying on her back on a rather narrow bed. She smiled nervously at her friend who walked up to her side and took a paw in hers.
Dr. Tennar appeared through another door and came up to them. He offered a warm smile then began to explain what was going to happen.
"Above you is a device similar to a scanner in a way but its function is to rearrange ones genes. It is called simply a Gene Manipulator. You will be lightly sedated so that you won't move as stillness is required. I and Dr. Sinian will be outside observing everything that's going on through that window over to your right. The GM will pass slowly over your body making a complete blueprint of your genes in their present configuration then it will pass over you a second time and make the tiny changes necessary to change your dormant genes into active, functioning ones. The whole procedure will take about thirty minutes. Do you have any questions?" He asked, gently.
"How will I feel when I wake up?" She asked, a bit anxiously.
"Actually, you shouldn't feel any different. Once the procedure is completed, I will come in and check your vitals then turn you over to Star so he can do a check of your magical energy before you are awakened. It's possible that a burst of uncontrolled energy will erupt when he's checking you over but there's nothing to fear. He can handle it. Once he gives me the go ahead, I'll wake you then he will take you away to conduct tests on your magical potential," Tennar explained.
"Star?" Callie asked, frowning.
A silver and gray wolf came through the door near the observation window and walked up to her side. "Greetings, Ms. Briggs. I am called Star and I am the senior mage aboard the Wotan," he said warmly.
Callie studied the wolf. He was lean, shorter than Tennar, with a calm demeanor. His face had odd symbols tattooed on each cheek and forehead. His eyes were a startling pale blue giving him a faintly dreamy expression.
"Pleasure to meet you, sir," she said, politely.
"And I, you, madam. Fear not, I will take good care of you when this is over but you will be required to work hard," he said.
Callie gave him a wane smile and a light snort. "That is something I do everyday, sir."
"Which is the only reason I allowed this to be done at all, Ms. Briggs. I know you'll work hard but this will like nothing you've ever done in your life, so be prepared," he said, giving her a mysterious smile before taking leave of her once more.
"Oh that makes me feel soo good," Callie sighed, sarcastically.
"Magical work is very intense and exhausting, Callie," Dr. Tennar added his own warning, "...but Star is the best in the business and will make you a top notch sorcerer when he's through. Now, shall we get started?"
Callie took a deep breath and let it out. "Ready as I'll ever be."
"Good!...Dr. Sinian? If you would please go where Star went..." Dr. Tennar said quietly as he pulled out something that resembled some kind of small wand.
After giving her lover a quick hug, Abi reluctantly left the room.
"Pleasant dreams..." Dr. Tennar murmured as he pressed the odd wand against her right arm sending Callie to sleep immediately.
Abi watched as the procedure began. It didn't seem like much...a large piece of machinery came down from the ceiling. It was as wide as the bed Callie lay on but only about two feet wide. It moved to the head of the bed then shot out a purple beam that it passed over the she-kat's body as it made its way down to the end of the bed. The beam shut off, waited for more than ten minutes before moving back up Callie's body, a blue-green light coming from it this time, then it shut off and returned to the ceiling once more.
Dr. Tennar entered the room alone, moving to her side then using a small hand scanner to check his patient over. He seemed satisfied with his readings then signaled Star to enter. Abi had already been told she could not enter the room until it was safe.
Standing at Callie's head, Star raised his arms and began to chant. Bluish energy poured from his fingers and over the she-kat's body. The moment it contacted Callie's still form, a burst of silver energy came up to meet it from her body. The two energies clashed for what seemed like a long time before all became calm again.
The silver energy subsided then disappeared...only then did Star withdrew his own energy. He nodded at Dr. Tennar, who'd moved to stand against the wall for safety reasons, came forward with his small wand and pressed it against Callie's arm. She woke immediately and looked around a little bewildered.
"Is it over?" She asked.
"Yes it is and it was a complete success. How do you feel?" Dr. Tennar asked as he helped her sit up.
Callie blinked and thought about it for a moment as she sat there trying to get her head back in the world again. Nothing seemed to be different...though she did feel a little warmer than normal and felt a bit more rested than when she got there.
"I don't feel any different, perhaps a little warm," she said, honestly.
"That is good to hear. The warm feeling is your magical energy. I'll have Kayleen help you get redressed then you'll go with Star," Dr. Tennar said, pleased.
As they left the room and Callie began to follow Kayleen, an alert sounded off suddenly.
"Dr. Tennar, medical emergency arriving in landing bay one...report immediately!" A voice commanded from a nearby wall communicator. Frowning Dr. Tennar, moved to the comm and hit the button.
"Nature of emergency?" He barked.
"The SWAT Kat known as Razor has been seriously injured. He is presently unconscious from a head injury and has multiple broken bones." He was told promptly by Liela, the communications officer.
"When's it due in?" Tennar asked briskly moving away to retrieve a medical kit.
"Arrival in T-5 minutes, doctor."
"On my way!" He hurried out a quickly opening door, on the run.
"Oh no! Razor!" Callie cried out, worry and fear for the tom out weighing her own concerns.
"Worry not, gentle fems, Dr. Tennar is an excellent physician. He will do all he can to heal your friend. You need to concentrate on what we need to do next," Star soothed both she-kats as he herded them after nurse Kayleen.
Callie allowed herself to be hurried off, but her mind was on the puzzle of how Razor had come to be so grievously hurt.
Down in the shuttle bay, Dr. Tennar waited impatiently for the pressure door to open. He could see the shuttle settling onto its pad and the engines shutting off. Only a few minutes later and the door hissed open and he was able to dash through it.
When he arrived at the ship, the door was just opening revealing a grim Kam standing on the threshold. The ramp lowered and a pair of medics came out with the gurney between them. They halted before the doctor and gave him a quick run down of their patients current condition.
Dr. Tennar ran his own diagnostics, used various devices on the silent and bloody tom on the bed then nodded his head. "Let's get him to sick bay quickly."
As the group hurried back to the medical section, Kam kept up with the doctor and asked, "how is Ms. Briggs?"
"She's fine. The procedure was a success and she did very well. Star has her right now."
"That's good news. Please let me know how Razor is as soon as you can so I can ease Ms. Briggs' mind. I'm sure she heard about this...?" He asked.
"Yes, unfortunately, she was on hand when the call came in. I'll let you know as soon as I do," Tennar said gruffly as he led the team into a medical procedure room that sealed behind him leaving Kam to stare through the window in concern. He sighed after a moment and left to seek out Ms. Briggs.
He found her and Dr. Sinian fairly easily. The doctor was watching in nervous concern outside the heavily warded room where magic workings were conducted.
"Hello, Dr. Sinian."
"Oh, hello Lieutenant Kam. How is Razor?" Abi asked, concerned.
"I don't know yet but Dr. Tennar will let us know as soon as he finds out," Kam assured her.
"What happened?"
"From what I was told, the battle in Dark Kat's hideaway was rather messy and Razor had the misfortune of being hauled toward the ceiling then dropped by those things known as creeplings. He's in pretty bad shape but we've healed worse injuries before with complete success."
"Oh how awful! I'm glad your advanced medical care was available. We really can't afford to lose him now."
"I know, neither can we. So how is she doing," Kam asked, carefully redirecting her attention from Razor to her lover.
Abi turned her head to stare into the room where Star seemed to be putting Callie through some odd looking tests. "I don't know really. She came through the procedure feeling no different but its obvious she is different since she can manipulate energy like that," she said staring at Callie making a box float.
"Hmmm, so I can see. She's quite strong to be able to do that so quickly. I've seen magical students take weeks or even months to be able to make their magic do any of their bidding," he said, impressed despite himself.
"Really? I guess they weren't underestimating her probable abilities then," Abi murmured as she continued to stare through the window.
Kam didn't tell her, but this was more than they'd ever expected. Seems, Ms. Briggs was just full of surprises and would be a truly powerful sorcerer, once properly trained. That was good news for the future safety of their city.
~o~o~o~o~o~
T-Bone took his anger and worry out on the total destruction of the mountain hideaway. Genus and he had spent a long two hours inventorying the contents of the cave then Genus made sure to disarm any and all dangerous devices before they were able to leave it and return to the Turbokat.
Setting up a barrage of missile launches, T-Bone filled the hole in the cavern with plenty of destructive energy to bring down enough of the mountain to make it look like a hill instead, sealing the cavern forever.
Satisfied their work here was done. T-Bone asked Genus, "need a quick break before heading to the mine?"
Genus thought about it a moment. T-Bone had untreated injures he was ignoring as did himself. Perhaps it would be a good idea to get them treated, eat something and rest briefly before tackling the scorpions.
"I think that would be a good idea T-Bone. Let's go back to your hangar and I'll have Tara meet us there to treat out hurts and we'll get something to eat," he suggested.
T-Bone almost nixed the idea. He just wanted to get done and find out how his partner was doing but he stopped himself. 'Really, how good a job would he do if he didn't rest a little and refuel before going after those damn things in the mine...get hurt some more, most likely then they'd both be down...not a good thing!' he thought irritably.
"Yeah, you're right. Alright, let's go home then." He turned the jet toward the salvage yard and fired up all the engines to get there quicker.
Using his comm, Genus contacted Tara who said she meet them there as soon as she could and would bring lunch. He thanked her and relaxed as best he could. Dark Kat had left some truly dangerous stuff behind and he was glad he had been able to disarm them all. One more task completed.