The team got to the airport quickly after the fight with Ransom at his nightclub. They all boarded the jet, along with Team 4, and then Aari called me to give his report and see what to do next. “We got Ransom Steve,” said Aari, “but it came with a price this time.” “Okay, give your report, but take off and head back here as well,” I told him.

“Okay,” said Aari and he told the pilots to get going. They had already checked the jet for any problems or surprises. “Well,” began Aari, “Team 4 has one dead and 2 wounded. Our team also has one dead and two wounded.” “Who is wounded?” I asked. “On Team 4 there is Chuck and Tim, with Alexander dead. He was a good man, sure sorry to lose him.” “And now for our team, wounded first,” I said.

“Well, for wounded we have Karin and Rock,” said Aari, “and Angel was killed.” That news hit Sky very hard since Angel was her cousin. And the 3 cousins, Sky, Angel and Crystal had become very close. “Crystal is taking Angel’s death quite hard,” said Aari. “I can imagine,” I said, “so is Sky right now. What happened to Karin and Rock?”

“Karin was shot in the leg,” said Aari, “not too serious, she is in pain but she will be okay. One of the doormen shone some kind of light in Rock’s eyes and he is now blind. I hope it is just a temporary thing and wear off after a while. He is quite quiet though, just lying down.” “Okay,” I said, “get here as quickly as you can.

I will let Li Jing know what is happening and we will get a specialist for Rock if necessary. You guys have done well and need to refresh for a while.” “We could just drop off the wounded and keep going after Scorpion,” said Aari, “or he will likely go underground for a while.”

“Forget Scorpion,” I said, “he is likely in hiding already. If we ignore him now then perhaps he will relax and come out in the open more quickly. You guys have already accomplished more than we had planned to do, now it is time for a rest. Scorpion will be around at a later time, and we will stop him too, I promise that.” It was daylight when they arrived and all the wounded were in our clinic getting treatment now.

Li Jing had told me to call in a specialist and fortunately there is one in the Baldwin Corporation hospital staff. Nelson called him and he will be arriving later today. Sky, Muffin, Snow and myself went to see Rock. “There is a specialist coming Rock,” I told him, “he should be able to help, but sometimes it takes some time to heal.”

“I know Steve,” said Rock, “but I am still scared. This is one time my strength cannot help me.” “Well Rock,” said Sky, “you have inner strength too which is even better, rely on that instead.” Meow,meow.=Yep, me remember when Mr. Cat and me fall down mountain clinging to you and you tell us not be scared, everything be okay you said.

And it was okie dokie too, even for you. Now me say “not be scared” to you, it all be okay too this time too. Meowy=Yep, me agree with mommy Muffin, it all be okay for my human Rock. She was sitting with Rock and he hugged her. “But remember,” he said, “your human is Catalina now, remember? I will still be your human too though, and Annelie too.”

Meowy.=Me remember, me like human Catalina, she say I help her lots. “Oh, I keep forgetting to ask, are Storm and Rusty okay?” he asked. Meow,meow.=Yep, they both come back okie dokie. Storm say Rusty is good member of team, he learn fast. And he now is cat friend for ghost Kat, they good team. “Yes,” said Rock, “they are a good team Steve. I think they should stay together.”

“Okay,” I said, “then they will be a team from now on. Being able to work together is important.” “Sure is,” he said, “and maybe we should consider letting #3 from Team 4 join our team. She really would like to join and she has shown herself very capable too.”

“Okay, I will talk to Mandar about her,” I said, “and I think we will keep all of team 5 with us from now on too. They seem to work well with our team.” “So does all of Team 4 Steve,” said Rock. “I agree,” I said, “and Mandar wants them to help us whenever we need them, rather than sending other teams in rotation. This way we can learn to work together better.”

Well, time keeps moving along, it has been a week since all this happened, the specialist for Rock is still here. He and I talked frankly about Rock and he was just not sure if Rock would regain his eyesight. Apparently whatever kind of laser that guy used did some real damage. And our team was unable to find the weapon that guy used.

Someone else obviously picked it up, but who? Was it a customer, or perhaps one of Ransom’s men who got away? That could be bad, especially if he gives it to Scorpion. Meanwhile… “Well, well,” said the man, “so Ransom did have this weapon perfected. You shall be rewarded for this, my good man…”

This story will be continued as “The Strange Case.”

©2023 Steve McLeod.