It did not take long and we were flying over the Sahara desert and aiming for the coordinates that Jessica gave me. I hope they are exact and not just general because there is a lot of sand down there and it would be easy to get lost in all of that. We flew high, very high, once we got over the desert, but the camera on this plane is amazing. We could focus in so close it was like we were flying just 20 feet above ground. But there was nothing to see…except sand everywhere.

So we went down and I told Ken to land close to those coordinates we have. At about 5,000 feet the jet became completely silent. “That is great Ken,” I said, “keep it quiet like that for our landing.” “I do not have any choice Steve,” he answered, “the engines have quit. We have no power at all. So we might have a rough landing. However, this plane is made to land without power and is built to withstand a crash quite well. But to be safe, get everyone in their cocoons.”

I went and told the others. There was backup power for certain things, like the cocoons, which are just that, an unbreakable plastic tube that covers each person. We did get bumped around a bit, but Ken did a great job of landing the jet on that sand. But I wonder what went wrong? We all gathered our backpacks and went outside. “Do you know what happened Ken?”, I asked. “No idea,” he answered, “could be something simple like a loose wire, but likely one of the computer chips quit working.”

I look at my phone, it too was not working. Actually, none of our phones were working. “This is not good Steve,” said Kat, “it looks too deliberate to me.” “Yes, I think you are right,” I said, “and that means we have no way to contact anyone for help.” Even our emergency alert devices did not work. We start walking around to the other side of the jet and are met by a small wild cat. But he backed up a bit and lay down on the sand.

Meowr=Go ahead, beat me up, scratch me, kill me, I much too weak to fight anymore. Meow,meow?=Why we do that? We not bad cats, we good cats and our humans good too. Meow.=Yep, that right, we not hurt you at all. Why you so skinny? Meowr.=I hardly eat anything for 2 weeks, not much food out here and our humans not feed us anymore, they say find own food. So I give most food to my mate, but it not enough and soon she not able to stand, so my humans shoot her, because she no good now. And I too weak to hunt anymore, not able to find bugs.

Both cats ears go straight up and they tell me what is going on. Angel comes over, “here, I brought some extra kitty treats with me, you don’t mind sharing do you?” Meow,meow=We not mind, we share all our food with new friend. Angel put some on her hand. Meow.=You eat, this called kitty treats, very good food, yummy. Angel put her hand next to him and he started to eat. “Do not eat too fast,” she said gently to him.

Meowr.=That is yummy food. Then he put his head down. Wish my mate had that before. The cats were so mad. Meow,meow!=We go find these bad people that kill his mate, they not nice people at all! “We will do that,” I said to them, “but we have to know where to go. Can your new friend lead us to them?” Meow?=You can take us to these bad human people? His ears go straight up. Meowr=I thought you were nice. Why you want to go see bad people?

Meow,meow?=You can understand people talk? Meowr=Yes, I can, and people can understand me if they very nice. Meow=Your bad people holding one of our friends as prisoner, her name Jessica, we come to rescue her. Meow,meow=And we rescue you too. What your name? Meowr?=What is name? Meow,meow.=Me Muffin, this my mate, his name MC.

Meowr.=Oh, I not have name like that. “Ask him if I can cuddle him,” said Angel to Muffin. Meow,meow.=Human Angel want to cuddle you, that okay? Meowr?=What is cuddle? Meow,meow?=Not know cuddle? Here, I show. So Angel picked up Muffin and cuddled her. Meowr.=Oh, that look like fun, me try now. Angel picked him up and cuddled him and he managed a weak purr. “You are so light and skinny,” she said, “I am going to take care of you.”

Meowr?=This human Angel, she is very nice? Meow.=She very, very nice, you will like her. Meowr.=Okay, I do like you human Angel, you really be my human? “He talks too,” she said excitedly, “yes, I will be your human. Meowr.=Oh, that so nice, my own human. I will take you back to bad humans, but it long walk and soon it get dark and cold. So we all decide it would be wiser to stay on the plane for the night and get an early start in the morning.

To Be Continued.

©2022 Steve McLeod.