The cats were ready for this next attack and they were angry. They had this planned out with Kristina and the other Cat, who is Catalina . They waited for just the right time after they first saw the people sneaking up on them. It was a warm, clear night, with no moon. Tiia and Tandi waited patiently for the signal from Storm. Then, he pushed his alert button which signaled Tiia and Tandi.

Another button was pushed by all three cats which set off a very loud, piercing whistle. That made the attackers freeze and woke up our team. Then the cats shot 4 small but exceedingly bright flares which lit up the whole area like it was daylight. Then it was Cat’s turn and she pushed a button setting off explosions all through the area where the attackers were located.

Then the cats watched for any attackers they could see and they shot their little bombs at them which eliminated several of them. But they only had four each, so next for them was to run through the attackers to get behind them and begin attacking with their steel balls while the team was shooting constantly.

Then 3 helicopters came just over the treetops with bright lights shining on the attackers and a voice calling to them to surrender or they would all be killed. The remaining attackers put down their weapons and walked into camp with their hands raised. There were only 6 of them left out of 35 that had come. The attackers had barely had time to shoot much, but the brightness of the flares helped them a bit too.

Penny and Miles were shot and wounded. Unfortunately, Aubrey and Sigurbjorn were dead. When Rock was told they were dead, he was livid with anger and started to make his way to the six captives. However, Kristina stood in front of him and told him to stop or he would have to kill her to get at them. It was a hard thing for Kristina to do, she really wanted to let Rock go after those 6 men.

But our rules state clearly that if any enemy surrendered they would be treated well and turned over to the police as soon as possible. Kristina reminded Rock of that rule. “I would like to kill them too Rock,” she said, “but that is not how we operate.” Rock stood there looking down at her, he was more than a foot taller than Kristina. He then shook his head.

“Yes, you are right Kristina,” he said, “thank you. I also apologize for nearly picking you up to toss you aside. As Team leader you have every right to put me on the inactive list.” “I will not do that,” she said smiling, “we all make mistakes and I understand that you are going through a very hard time, I know what that is like.” “Yes, yes, I know you do,” he said, “thank you Kristina.” He then went and sat down.

The 3 choppers had landed briefly and took Penny and Miles to the hospital, plus taking the bodies of the other two. “We can take your prisoners back with us too,” said Malcolm, the team leader of the helicopter crews. “We will keep them with us,” said Kristina, “they can help us with work.” He did leave them extra supplies and had even brought extra weapons for the cats.

Meowr.=Oh, this good, we all out of ammo united missions. “You mean ammunition Storm,” said Kristina smiling. Even in this turmoil she found herself able to smile. Having the cats around was good in so many ways. “We will never be far away Kristina,” said Malcolm. Then the choppers flew off. Catalina filled up the cats backpacks again, plus her own.

Malcolm had also told Kristina that Carine had died, so that makes three of the home team, the other two being Nelson and Trisha, though Trisha was not a formal team member yet, she would have been voted in while at home this time. Rock saw Catalina sitting on a rock, crying. She had taken the news of Carine’s death quite hard since they had become such good friends.

Rock went over to her and put his huge arm around her and cried with her. Annelie had been found, but was wounded so badly that Li Jing and the other doctor helping out right now, did not believe that she had any chance of survival, but they were doing their best for her anyway. It was now two days after that night and Storm came running back to the team who had stopped for lunch.

Meowr!=Me see big hole in side of rock, maybe it cave we look for! The whole team got up and followed Storm and they did not have to go far. There it was, the mine entrance. Rock, Catalina, John and Astrid put on safety gear and went inside the mine. It cooled off quickly inside the mine but they were dressed for it.

They went inside for about 1200 feet and came to the end. There was no cave-in, it was just the end. No side shafts either. While they were gone the cats were sniffing around at the entrance. Suddenly all 3 of them began jumping up and down excitedly…

To Be Continued.

©2023 Steve McLeod.