I did manage to get a good night’s sleep, though it was short, Kat did as well. After a good breakfast we were back in the car with our two “friends” driving into the valley. It didn’t take too long and we were at the airport waiting for our plane to arrive. This part seemed to drag on for hours, though it was actually less than an hour. “It must be time to get rid of our friends,” said Kat to me quietly. “Yes, I have just been trying to figure out how and when,” I said, “and I think there is our opportunity.” I pointed casually to a cart full of parcels sitting outside the door. This was just a small airport with only small planes using it, so we had to go outside to get on the plane. As we sat there, a large blue “chop chop”, as the cats would say, landed and was soon being refueled.

Meanwhile, still high on a mountain side… Rock jumped, with the cats holding on tight to his shoulders. He caught the ladder and started climbing up quickly. He didn’t want to be out there any longer than necessary, and he made sure to keep his eyes on that helicopter because he knew if he looked down, that would be it for him. Once up to the helicopter door the cats jumped inside and the guy inside said to Rock, “you we don’t want” and he kicked him in the face. Rock was strong however, and didn’t let go of the ladder.

“Thwock!”, and the man fell out the door allowing Rock to climb inside and close the door quickly. Meow,meow?=You can fly chop chop? Rock nodded yes. “Thwock!, Thwock!”, and the pilot and co pilot were out. Rock quickly removed the pilot and took control so fast the helicopter didn’t hardly move. Meow.=You not worry about them, if they wake up, we put them back to sleep, permanent. “You two are a great team,” said Rock, “I sure hope my boss will let me work with you sometimes.”

Meow,meow.=We ask him, we 3 make good team. Call Calanthe now, should get through, do like this. And Muffin told him the secret way to send a message to Calanthe. She was at the hospital though so Jennifer answered. Rock told her what happened and he didn’t know what happened to Steve and Kat. Jenny asked to talk with Muffin. “Hi my sweet Muffin kitten,” she said, “I just can’t wait to cuddle you again.” MEOW? Meow?=What wrong? Muffin whispered to M.C. MEOW? Rock looked at them, then Muffin whispered to him.

Rock stared. Muffin whispered again telling him that was a secret code message that they use, and they shouldn’t talk in the chop chop since it might be bugged. Rock agreed. “We need fuel, is there an airport nearby?”, he asked Jennifer. She told him about the closest one so he headed that direction. Meow,meow.=This nice chop chop, I like color, blue is my favorite. “Mine too,” said Rock. Meow.=Yep, me too. They all laughed. Soon they were at the airport getting fuel, but they all decided it would be better to stay on board, just in case there were enemies around. Rock did have a couple of hand guns now which made him happy.

Meanwhile, back to us… That helicopter left about half an hour before we were able to take off. As our “friends”, Kat and I went outside, we walked behind that cart of parcels. There was a brief pause, then Kat and I continued onto the plane. I told the pilot the other two men decided not to come. Soon we were in the air and heading home. We still didn’t have any real plan, the best thing was just to warn Baldwin of what is going on, but if his ID has been changed, then he is in big trouble. But hopefully we can stop this fake Baldwin before it’s too late.

I still don’t buy the guy’s explanation that he just kind of looked like Baldwin so he picked him. There’s more to it than that. Baldwin is involved in numerous military contracts, supplying parts, guns and other things. If this fake Baldwin takes over, there could be some major trouble ahead. Time seemed to be going so slow again, but finally we were landing at the airport close to home, and even closer to the hospital. We took a taxi directly to the hospital and literally ran into Baldwin’s room! But we suddenly stopped…

To Be Continued.

©2021 Steve McLeod.