Written By: Kristof 
E-Mail: Kristof.vanderauwera@pandora.be
 
Disclaimer: All characters expect Chris are copyright 1990/1991 Walt Disney
Company and are being used without premission. The writer of this fanfic has made 
sure that no money was made in the creation of this fanfic and that all material
is used with the upmost affection and respect to the Walt Disney Company and the
Tale Spin Team.
  Chris and others is the property of the writer of this fanfic and may not be
used without the writers prior consent. You may give copies of this fanfic as long 
as they are not altered in any way and proper credit is given to the writer.
  Rudder is the property of Dan Green.
 
Special Disclaimer:
 
My humble thanks to the High Flight Crew for giving me permission to use
the Windward theory. If anyone is unfamiliar with it, go read Tail Winds
NOW!
 
Special thanks to Dan Green, not only for letting me use character
'Rudder' and the continent of 'Eporue', but he's also a good chat
partner, great friend, excellent writer and ideal moral booster in
though times.
 
Even more special thanks to David Kimble for putting up with me every
time I bothered him when I got stuck in the middle of a sentence. Just
as Dan a good chat partner, great friend, yes-a writer-, moral booster
and soulmate. Wish ya the best Dave!
 
I'm not gonna forget all my other TS friends here, who indirectly helped
me write (you all know who you are!)
 
The poem near the end of story, recited by Kit and Chris is one I heard
during a playstation ad on TV, so don't send any comments about it: I
DIDN'T WRITE IT!
 
Somewhere around the 15th page you'll notice a short flashback in Kit's
life...I'm warning you ahead, it ain't pretty, and neither are his
flashbacks on the 19th page. If you are uncomfortable with such
material, feel free to skip it, you won''t miss too much of the story.
You will miss a lot of Kit's past though...
 
Ok, enough with the scaring part: ENJOY THE STORY (and please send me
feedback!)

Nights can be strange things. When around the people you love they seem warm and the dreams seem to be the most beautiful tale ever told. But when lonely or lost, a night lasts forever and nightmares haunt the mind. For the very first time in his life, Chris woke up in the middle of the night. Feeling the pillow and blanket, he smiled and felt comfort in the gesture. He closed his eyes and was asleep seconds later.

Rudder was shifting a bit in the chair he was occupying. It wasn't the most comfortable of sleeping positions but he had had worse. Hearing a noise, the black bear opened an eye. The door was firmly closed, locked by a crowbar. The cockpit door was undisturbed and the hatch was still tightly shut. Dim light shining through the small windows gave the bear enough view to start looking around. Outside, the Greenland was still open and crowded. As the bear walked over to the starboard windows to check for trespassers on the dock, he heard the sound again unmistakebly coming from starboard side…but inside the cargo hold?

Turning, he saw something move. Rudder grabbed the crowbar out of the door and sneaked to the movement. There it was again…followed by a silent whisper. Rudder relaxed a bit and approached the movement, crowbar still in hand. Another whisper…he couldn't quite understand it. Almost sounded like someone having a nightmare

"Fang…I promise! It won't happen again"

"You're damn right it'll never happen again" the first fist hit, cracking a rib

Rudder could now understand parts of the whispers. It seems Kit was reliving parts of his past…a serious trauma replaying

"Please…I promise"

"You don't deserve pity streetrat" the fists kept hitting him, almost always hitting the same spots. As Kit doubled over to protect his ribs, a fist hit him in the face breaking his jaw. Half unconcious the bearcub hit the ground trying to fend of the kicks that viciously flew in his direction "I took care of you!" A kick hit Kit in the stomach, making the boy curl up "I trusted you!" Fang walked around the downed boy, constantly kicking exposed parts of his body "You betrayed me! You're filth!" the leopard kicked Kit in the stomach again. To avoid further punishment in that area, Kit rolled on his belly. Fang kept kicking him in the ribs. The boy screamed as Fang placed his boot down on his back and pressed down hard. Forcing air in his lungs, Kit tried to speak, blood running out of his mouth

"It's never gonna….happen again..agh…I promise"

"What's the promise of a skunk worth HUH?"

Fang pressed down harder and Kit cried again, passing out. The leopard was getting bored…it was no fun beating up an unconcious kid. He left the small form on the ground for what it was and left

Kit opened his eyes, feeling every inch of his body hurt. It was dark around him, and he felt a presence…a crowbar in its hand. The bearcub curled up and held his arms in front of his face to protect it, screaming "I promise, it won't happen again". The figure threw down the crowbar and grabbed Kit's arms. Wrestling with all his might, the cub tried to free himself from the grip…no luck. The figure yanked his arms away from his face and forced Kit to look at him.

"Kit, it's me! Calm down, you'll hurt yourself!"

Recognising Rudder, the cub stared…and cried. With Kit in tears, Rudder felt there was more to this than just a nightmare. He pressed the cub to his chest and stroked his hair in an effort to calm him down. This could hardly be considered the right time, but the black bear had to know

"I never saw you like this before…what dream could possibly do that to you?"

"I wish it was a dream…" the cub sobbed, pressing his head harder against Rudder's chest "it was Fang…it has always been Fang. Make him stop…"

"Easy kid…there's nothing to be afraid of here. He can't get to you now, I won't let him. Trust me…"

Still sobbing lightly, Kit put his head on his pillow and forced his eyes shut. He never showed himself like this before, and he hoped he never had to again…but the last days stirred a lot of memories loose, memories he thought were locked away forever in the deepest dungeon of his mind. Now they were free again, free to once again mess up his life

"He hurt me Rudder…a lot"

"Why didn't you ever tell anyone?"

"Who would understand?"

"A mother…or a father. Ever had them after your orphanage years?"

"Not legally…but Baloo and Rebecca were so close. Now he messed up that too. He always messes up my life"

"I pity you Kit. A child without mother…how long were you thinking this would last? You might not admit it, but you're longing for someone to take care of you, and every time you feel that way you run. You have a good life ahead Kit, don't waste it like I did. As for Fang, rest assured he can't get you here or anywhere else. As long as I'm around he doesn't stand a chance. Don't let Jack's threat get to you. Want some hot milk to get back to sleep?"

"No thanks…I'll be fine" Kit smiled back at Rudder. It was true, he did need someone to take care of him but for now Rudder was doing fine. All his years on the streets taught him one thing: he could help himself most times, but to truly be able to survive, you need someone else. How he longed for a steady home those years…a dream quickly shattered by Fang. Why would he need a father or a mother after what he made him go through? He had no idea until the memories started again…even now he could still feel his ribs hurt. Hard to believe, even for him, that it was just a warning. The second time, four days later, took him a month to truly recover from. But his psyche never recovered…his hopes and dreams broken, his trust shattered. He had met the cruel world up close and personal and still Fang seemed to him the impersonation of his past. He pictured the leopard…his eyes pierced straight through Kit's defences, his teeth glittered in the dim light and his fists were curled, ready to strike…he was so threathening…how could Kit have dealt with him a few months back?

The hair in the back of Kit's neck stood up by just thinking about meeting Fang again. Two months ago, he had noting to lose, and all to gain…this time was different. The leopard would never let him go twice, it was no Jerry O'Connor…This time, their score would be settled and they would be playing for keeps! But what could a 12-year old cub possibly do against a 30-year old leopard? Sure enough, his strength had increased lately and he had grown slightly but not enough to beat Fang and this time wouldn't be an air battle. Fear crept up to the boy. Genuine fear…how long had it been since he had been truly afraid of someting? The feeling confused him even further…not even being thrown of the Vulture a second time could scare him, so why should he fear someone he had beaten two months ago? He felt the pain of that first fist again. Maybe his ribs had never really healed, maybe he subconciously held on to the memory, but every time he pictured Fang his ribs hurt.

He quietly turned around in his bed. Strange…Kit couldn't figure out why he did that. Maybe because of the incident with Fang. He remembered…it was just after his beating

It was midnight. The hurting cub stirred, coughed and opened his eyes. Trying to get to his feet he felt every inch of his young body hurt. After a while, he gave up and allowed himself to sink to the floor again. Guilt overcame him: he had failed his duties and had now paid the price. His mind thought of reasons why he didn't deserve this but strangely enough came up empty. Long minutes passed before Kit gathered his strength and lifted himself up. He was lucky to still feel his legs the way Fang had pounded his spine. Trying to assess the damage, Kit felt his ribs hurt immensely: most were bruised, some were even broken. Not just his ribs had suffered: he had a black eye, a broken nose and jaw and walked with a limp…wether his ankle was broken or just hurt, he didn't want to find out today. He was tired…very tired. Limping, he made his way to his bedroom…if it could be called that way. It was nothing more than an old utility room with a simple army field bed, but it made do for Kit, it was his symbol of freedom. He sat down, reality slowly catching up with him. Supressing tears, he reached under his pillow where he kept a small diary, and opened it to the very first pages. The facts described seemed unreal, a far cry from the Fang he knew now. Kit started reading parts of the short paragraphs

"…took me to the carnaval today….can't believe he bought me an ice cream…..remembered my birthday…..taught me how to read a compass….helped me read maps….pulled me out of school today, don't know why….seems to train me, not that I mind though…met a strange guy…..talking about a mission, he didn't know I was listening….big day coming soon, something about the mission" He read the next sentence out loud…it was written just one night before "I'm excited about tomorrow! According to Fang it's going to be the biggest day in my entire life. I just hope I don't fail that test he's talking about…but I don't think he'd mind if I did, he's such a great guy. Tomorrow I'm gonna tell him I want him to be my dad…"

The cub sobbed and stared at that page. His eyes filled with tears which slowly became too big to hold back. Still staring at the page, Kit felt tears running down his cheek. He kept studying that sentence while the tears ran down on the page and washed away the ink…

The cub threw the little diary in the corner and tried to get some sleep. Leaning back, Kit remembered his current condition too late and couldn't suppres a cry of pain. From upstairs came a very loud curse and footsteps stormed down the stairs. Kit cringed: he knew he had made Fang furious. The leopard kicked open Kit's door and stormed in, drunk as never before.

"Goddammit…frst y'embarras mey to m'a friends, an' now y'er keepn' me frm sleepn'! Git a gd place fer yer kind, RAT!"

Fang grabbed Kit by the arm, twisting it behind the boy's back. Giving it another vicious yank, he led Kit over to the door to the basement. The leopard kicked it open and threw Kit in. He lowered his face to meet Kit's…only now the boy smelled Fang's breath. A scent of cheap whisky entered his nose.

"If I hear 'nuther squeak frem ya, ya'll die in here wit' the rest o'the vermin"

This said, Fang closed the door, leaving Kit in the cold, dark basement. The leopard stood still just outside the door, listening for_any_sound. The cub kept quiet, knowing very well what would happen if he made even the slightest of sounds. Fang stood there for five minutes and heard nothing. He shrugged, slammed the lock on the door and started back to his room…there was a bottle of Scotch waiting for him upstairs. As Fang got out of hearing distance, a soft sobbing filled the basement…

With a flash, Kit returned to the present, and jumped up in his bed, screaming. Rudder jerked awake and looked around him, bewildered. The bear needed exactly half a second to figure out what had just happened. He sighed and walked over to Kit's bed…was the boy hyperventilating? Kit was indeed sitting up straight in his bed and breathed more than necessary. Rudder knew very well this was a panic reaction, he had seen it all too often. Only one way to stop it…he put his hand on Kit's mouth and kept it there, forcing the boy to breathe through his nose. The cub panicked even more and swung his hands and arms wildly around him, not wanting to be treated like this by Fang. Eventually he calmed down and his vision cleared, recognising Rudder once again. The black bear removed his hand and felt his chin…Kit had a mean right hook.

"Fang again?" Rudder pushed Kit gently back down and put the blanket back over him

"Who else? I'm not going back to Freeburg tomorrow Rudder…I can't face him again"

"Okay, that does it…we'll discuss this tomorrow, but first I want you to sleep!" Rudder placed an arm under Kit's knees and shoulders and lifted him out of the bed. He walked over to the passenger chairs and sat Kit down next to his improvised bed. Kit curled up and lied down while Rudder grabbed an extra blanket and put it over the cub. The bear sat down and listened. He was pleased to hear a gentle snoring after just a few minutes of steady breathing…

Another Monday, another day at work…As always, John Hammaway took his keys and opened the immensly big metal gate leading to the back of the office building. He checked his watch…8.20, he was early as usual. The bobcat strolled through the small garden, enjoying the autumn scents. Things like this made his job a whole lot nicer, seeing as how he worked for the adoption board.

'Adoption board'…John scowled just thinking about it. It used to be a fair institution, but lately rich people had literally bought children here, enough to make John look at it as a slave market. If only someone would complain! He had the evidence, he had the guts to stand up to his superiors and expose the fraude, but only if someone complained he could oficially act.

-No daydreaming John, don't let them see what you're thinking- The bobcat continued up the path to the back entrance and arrived at exactly 8.21 as was his habit. Things were pretty quiet here and every day was routine: arriving, waiting for the mail, get frustrated there wasn't any complaint in it and get a cup of coffee…a basic morning, and all signs pointed in the direction of another day of boredom. That's when his eyes traveled downwards to find an envelope sticking half under the door. Someone had slid it under there, possibly to make sure it had arrived. It hadn't been there when he left last Friday, he always checked twice for any complaints…who could have gotten in here during the weekend?

He picked up the envelope and was surprised it was adressed directly at_him_, instead of his superiors. Quickly opening the door and storming to his office, he read the back. Appearantly one of his colleagues…_former_colleages had put it there for him to find. He slammed the door of his office shut, locked it, threw his suitcase in the corner and sat down at his desk. John took his letter-opener while reading the front.

"John, you gotta see this" signed Jim

John remembered Jim Kolagg well. Only two employees were ready to stand up for a cause: Hammaway and Kolagg. During a search in mid june last year, the cops turned Kolagg's office upside down and found several incriminating files. Untill today, the cops refuse to tell John what they found exactly, but fact is that Jim was fired shortly after…Another set-up no doubt.

John's hands trembled as he sliced the letter-opener over the top and revealed the actual message. Two letters fell out of the envelope, along with a black and white picture of a bear handing a suitcase over to a familiar looking weasel. John started reading the first letter. It was written by Jim

"Dear John,

I know you must be surprised to hear from me again, but you need to do me a huge favor. The complaint included in this envelope was given to me by Miss. Rebecca Cunningham, and should be all you need to start a case. The picture shows a certain Vanderauw handing a royal bribe to Levrai. I studied Levrai long to come to this conclusion: he is the one on the take in the adoption board! The bastard found out I was spying on him and had several files planted in my office. This is your big chance John, the chance we've both been waiting for. Thank god Rebecca brought this directly to me, because -and this you did not know yet- all your mail is proofread by Levrai to make sure complaints like this don't arrive. However, they're all locked in his vault…he appearantly didn't find it necessary to burn them.

John, I was framed for being to close to the truth. I can't explain everything in this letter because it might get intercepted and I have no wish to get you into problems. File a charge against Levrai and meet me on the old Cape Suzette dockside near the bar. I saw the two cubs mentioned in the complaint leave and have all reasons to assume they are safe for now. There are more in their case and I want to help them all as much as possible. I_know_things you wouldn't even think of. This is for real John, and there'll be hell to pay for Levrai!

I'll wait for you,

Jim

P.S. this letter is eyes only, burn when finished"

John shook his head…what could drive his good friend to such secrecy? Puzzled, he took the second letter in hand and started reading. It was indeed written by Rebecca and signed by another person too, a certain Baloo Bear. It started of as a standard complaint…but somewhere in the writing, the emotions changed. John couldn't believe what he was reading. A bought out adoption, forcing orphans away from their newfound family and endangering their health by having them placed immediately. This was unacceptable, luckily Jim assured him they were safe. Rebecca's complaint was all he needed: statement of facts, signed by an other witness and a known confession by Levrai. The photograph he got provided the ultimate proof. Without further delay, John took a pile of papers and a gold blattered pen out of his desk drawer and started writing

Baloo yawned. The sun shone in through the window and the bear got up as he always did. Looking over to the other side of the room he remembered why he hated to get up today…today they would hear wether their complaint was accepted. Acceptance had to happen within 12 hours or the case got closed. The empty bed next to Baloo tortured his soul…not to mention the empty room where Chris was supposed to move into. It was kinda small, but the boy never complained: he never got the chance. Before Rebecca could tell him they had prepared the room he and Kit had to run for their freedom. Or is that run from their freedom? The grey bear shrugged the tought off and lumbered downstairs for breakfast

Rebecca was already there…and making pancakes? What was she so happy about? Didn't smell half bad though

"Hey Beckers, I thought your cooking stopped at a hard-boiled egg" The grey bear cheerfully sauntered of the stairs and sat down at the table

"I have a six-year old kid…pancakes come with the territory Baloo. Want one?"

"Or two, whatever"

Rebecca laughed. It felt good to laugh again after all that had happened…and now she had gotten that letter…

"Got news for you Baloo…I got this by express this morning"

She left her pans for what they were and opened a deskdrawer. With a flick of her hand, she threw Baloo an envelope. The bear tore off the lid and checked the return adress

"Bureau of Child Welfare? Yer not tellin' me?" Rebecca nodded and Baloo started reading "thorough investigation…signs of corruption…reversal of entire adoption procedure? Does this mean…"

"Levrai is going to get fired and Charles loses custody over the kids. There's going to be a hearing tomorrow to discuss what'll happen next"

"Fine…you go discuss what'll happen, I'll make something happen first"

Baloo stood up and ran up the stairs. Rebecca stood at the base, looking to the top and wondered what had possibly come into him. He had been so different the last days…for the first time she noticed he actually cared more about her and Kit than just the professional boss/navigator/pilot relation. As unreliable as he was a month ago, so solid and dependable he is now. He didn't give her much time to daydream: half a minute later, the grey bear ran down the stairs and grabbed the letter

"What are you up to?" Rebecca shouted after the departing form. Baloo came to a stop and turned around

"Don't worry! I'm gonna pick up Kit and Chris. Call the friends for a homecoming!"

"Where are you…Baloo!…" No matter how she shouted Baloo could no longer hear her. She just hoped he wasn't going at this half baked

Rumble…all consuming rumble. So familiar, so strange. The sound intensified…sloshing of water against a metal surface…the surge of pressure pushing down. A long hiss. Kit escaped the twilight zone that had kept him captive…where was he? This wasn't his bedroom and this wasn't the Seaduck. The cub slid out of the chair, tossing the blanket to the nearby beds. As he scratched his head he remembered where he was. A new pressureflux swept him off his feet…the plane had levelled off. Scrambling to his feet Kit rushed to the cockpit.

"Hey, why did you leave already?" Kit talked while walking in, not checking who was actually flying.

"Did you like it?" A familiar voice answered and Kit's eyes widened. Strapped in the pilot's chair was none other than his brother. Kit quickly rushed to the copilot's chair and strapped in

"What on earth are you doing? Where is Rudder?"

A sheepish grin appeared on Chris' face "Rudder went out to buy a newspaper…I'm just taking the plane for a spin. If you can do it, I can do it"

"CHRIS!" Kit wasn't accustomed to yell at his own brother as most twins did, but he could not agree with this. Chris had never flown a plane before in his life and this wasn't a plane for the rookie pilot. Much to Kit's surprise, Chris managed the plane with relative ease but he had to struggle with all his might to keep the nose up "Listen, let's go back now…you've proven you can fly, let's return the plane before Rudder reports it missing and we get into trouble"

"Aww, come on, he's a good sport. Gimme the course to Cape Suzette…or Louie's, whatever. Just make sure it's not over too soon…oops" With a clattering sound, the controls slipped out of Chris' hands and hit the dashboard. Kit instinctively grabbed the copilot yoke and pulled it close to his chest, getting the plane out of the dive. His left hand found a disc next to the throttle quadrant and he moved it up a few inches

"Lesson number one: in a twin-engined propliner, adjust the trim BEFORE takeoff…" his eyes travelled around the cockpit and he flipped some switches "and number two, set the mixture properly"

"Okay, so it's official: I stink as a mechanic and I stink as a pilot" Chris slumped back in his chair, staring out of the front windshield. Kit brought the Conwing in for a turn, but took his time to get the nose aligned with the docks

"It's not true you know" he finally managed. Chris looked in his direction for a brief moment

"What's not?"

"You don't 'stink' as a pilot, you just never had any theory or practice. To tell you the truth, I was impressed how you kept this powerhouse under control for so long without adjusting the trim"

"Wouldn't everyone?"

"Nope. You see, the engines are too powerful to keep under control manually, you need the trim…but you flew without. If someone would teach you, you'd be a regular ace"

"Thanks" Chris' face lit up"will you…ya know?"

Kit felt flattered by the proposal but his pride made way for his common sense, as it usually did "I don't think I'm the right person to ask Chris"

"Why not? You have been declared a triple ace by the Belgrum authorities, have flown a twin engine transport, a twin engine heavy figher/bomber cargo conversion AND a single engined fighter prototype. I wouldn't be surprised if you had a few moves of your own"

"You mean the Cloudkicker Eagle flip?" Some bravado was heard in Kit's voice as he kept checking heading and airspeed

"Exactly! Is there anything you can't do?!"

"Yep…and you're about to find out"

"huh?"

The Conwing Classic started hissing again as Kit lowered the approach flaps. His hands moved over to the throttle quadrant where he adjusted the trim again and throttled back the engines. One of them coughed and its hum fell silent. The plane immediately banked sharply to the left…Chris' hand shot out to the port engine throttle and slid it forward. The Conwing stabilized and continued its glidepath to the docks…Kit just grinned while Chris felt pretty good about himself. A loud splash announced the landing of the heavy plane. Rudder was already waiting, paper in hand, for his plane to return. After it was docked, the black bear climbed on board. Cheerfully whistling he threw the paper on one of the chairs and walked to the cockpit. Not missing a tone, he kept whistling, opened the door and was greeted by two sheepish smiles

"Uhhmm…good morning Rudder"

"So, what are the headlines today?"

"Let me see…theft, joyriding, flying without license and violating airspace…sound familiar?" Not a hint of anger crept into his voice…Kit even thought he heard some sarcasm. Both cubs knew, nevertheless, they were in serious trouble and Rudder was about to lose his patience. After all, he didn't_have_to bring them along, but he did so out of sympathy…or at least that's what Chris thought. If he got sick of them however, he wasn't forced to give them another ride. The black bear ran his hands along the dahboard and felt the small dent the escaped yoke had made

He kept checking every system and instrument. No detail went unnoticed: even the small fuel consumption was noticed. But never did he raise his voice or show anger. After completing his inspection round he leaned on the pilot's chair to have a little chat with the young 'pilots'

"Soooo….had fun? Nothing happened while I was gone?"

"Nope…"

"Not really…at least noting special"

"Really? Okay!" Ruder turned around and opened the cockpit door. Kit and Chris wiped the sweat of their eyebrows. All of the sudden Rudder turned back and leaned on the pilot's chair again "You know, I almost forgot to tell you guys something. I was walking back from the store, and a few guys were pointing up to the sky. I asked them 'what's wrong' and they said 'haven't seen a Conwing Classic in ages' and…hehe.." He started laughing out loud and patting the cubs on the back, contaminating them with his own laugh "you gotta hear this….okay,okay, this is the funny part: it was…hahahehe…IT WAS MY OWN PLANE! Isn't that funny? HEHEHEHEHEHEHE…" He looked at them, still laughing. His face straightened in half a second "Okay, what's the story? Playing in the cockpit?" the two cubs shaked 'no' "Pressed a few buttons you didn't recognise in an attempt to make coffee?" another shake of the cubs "remembered a documentary and tried to do it too? No?"

"Listen Rudder, we took your plane for a short flight"

"Really?" the bear looked quite surprised "in that case…" Both cubs prepared for the worst "who took it? That was some nice flying…anyone here has a license I don't know about?"

"He does" Chris bit his tongue. Why did he keep saying things he shouldn't?

"Really? So, Kit…what is it about my plane you find so attractive you can't keep your hands of it?" Rudder had now left the pilot's seat and leaned on the copilot's seat. Kit started sweating: if Rudder turned him in, Jerry wouldn't let him go again. Chris was sweating now too: he got his brother into trouble for five minutes of fun "I'm waiting for an explanation young man…"

"He didn't take your plane Rudder…I did"

Rudder turned around to face the blue-eyed bear cub "Why?"

"I wanted to fly! Is that so strange?"

"It is if you don't tell me! It's illegal to fly without a license"

"I was with him, nothing could've happened! Lighten up!"

"Lighten up?! Do_you_have a license?"

"More or less" Rudder kept staring, waiting for a further explanation "kinda…okay, so I hafta stay in 50 miles of my instructor and keep in radio contact"

"Okay…I can believe that…but where is your instructor?"

"Cape Suzette"

"Seems you were a bit further than 50 miles away then. How can you kids be so stupid? All I have to do is report you to the authorities and they'll be glad to arrange a free stay here!"

"You…you're not…?" Chris stammered

"No, I'm not gonna! But don't you ever try something as stupid again, understood?!"

Rudder looked at the two cubs. They both shuffled their feet a little and looked pretty embarassed…the bear wasn't family or a close friend but somehow his words had impact, and he knew it. But who could stay mad at the two? A smile crossed his face and he put his arms around their shoulders

"Hope I didn't scare anyone…now who tried that landing?"

"That would be me" Kit spoke softly, somehow feeling uncomfortable in his seat

"Needs a little work. Next time, take a look at the vibrations in the number one engine: it's a little older than the number two. And I also noticed a little dent on your side Chris"

"I can pay for the repairs if you want"

"Would you two calm down? I'm just giving some pointers here! So, Chris, what happened for the yoke to slam the dashboard like that?"

Chris turned red. He had made the ultimate rookie mistake "I kinda forgot to set the trim. I figured I just needed enough power from the engines to stay up there. Stupid me, huh?"

"Maybe Kit already explained it to you, but the trim is an essential element of modern day aricraft. You can fly a while without it, but you can never keep it up…and then things like this" he pointed at the dent "happen. Be glad you had a licensed pilot up with you. Enough about this mess. How does a few bagels with a steaming cup of coffee sound?"

"Just great"

"Yeah I'd like that"

"Fantastic, why don't you go get some and set coffee then?"

The cubs grinned. After all they did to Rudder, it was the least they could do. To Kit, Rudder suddenly seemed as the perfect union between Baloo and Rebecca: relaxed and still subconciously moralising. Why did he ever run from him?

Baloo was out of breath but kept running anyway. Only a few more yards to the old docks…The usual crowd was present: drifters, merchants and criminals. The CSPD liked to think their city was one clear of all criminal activity, but offcourse they were wrong. It's true no major criminality gripped the city, but the pirate attacks were blurring the police's vision of the real problems. It didn't matter to the puffing grey bear: if he could get his kids back, he would run to the end of the world.

The young lion has already spotted him. He knew Baloo would be back…alone as he expected. His eyes peered through the distance separating them and noticed the letter in the bears hand. A smile crossed Jim's face: John had received his letter.

"Hey, Mr.Baloo! Over here!"

The grey bear looked in the direction of the sound and saw the same lion he had met before. Baloo hoped he would finally get the answers he was looking for but wasn't too optimistic.

"Hey! Listen, I got the proof you wanted…it's all in here" He handed the letter over to Jim "verify whatever you want, ask whatever you want, but tell me where my kids are!"

"Well, Mr. Baloo, for starters I can tell you your children are very safe at the time, don't worry about that. But secondly, all this letter says is that both cubs are actually unguarded orphans now which must be returned to an orphanage as soon as possible"

"What?! You set me up!"

"Let me assure you your efforts will be rewarded. Times have changed since young mister Cloudkicker ran away from the orphanage. You now stand a very good chance if you would volunteer to adopt the twins. I will see to that personally. Unfortunately I can't tell you exactly where the twins are now. All I can say is that they are no longer in Cape Suzette, save and have a good home to come back to. Go to the hearing tomorrow Mr. Baloo, try to look presentable and be at your best behaviour…you'll help them more than you have ever done before. Now if you would excuse me, I think the time is right to make a comeback"

Baloo listened to all of it, mouth agape. He had been played like a sucker three times in three days. If anything, he was now mad at himself for not seeing through the lion's charade. It was never his intention to help him, only to get his job back and get even with Levrai. Jim was walking away from the docks, but turned around as if sensing Baloo's emotions

"I promise you: you will get your children back"

Baloo chuckled and forced a smile on his face. Jim turned around and was gone, dissolved in the masses. The grey bear felt betrayed like never before…

"No luck huh?" The bearess stood in the doorframe, knowing for sure what the answer would be. Instead of stating the obvious, Baloo collapsed in his easy chair. A long silence filled the office/living room mix while Rebecca kept staring out to the far horizon. Baloo noticed her strange devotion

"They're not coming Becky…give it a rest"

"It wouldn't be the first time Kit shows up behind your back just when you haven given him up" Rebecca answered absently, never breaking her stare

"Becky! He's not coming! "

She sighed and turned back towards her desk. The sight of piles of unfinished orders greeted her, prompting another sigh of the bearess. Baloo had never seen her so desperate, so lost. Where was the strong manager?

"Uhmm…Becky, I know this is none of my business" Rebecca looked up "but I haven't shipped anything in three weeks and our expenses haven't exactly been too low"

"Well well…who knew there was actually a manager spirit under that party shell"

"Hey, Baloo's Air Service wasn't_all_bad" the grey bear answered a bit insulted "but this can't be good for business. I thought you were supposed to be the responsible hen, watching over her customer eggs" he got up and took some of the orders, waving them in front of her face "and I doubt anything will hatch out of these now. You are supposed to be the sharp miz manager here"

"I AM the manager" she shot back, standing up from her chair and leaning on the desk's surface with her hands "If things go bad, I'll find a way out. If our customers start cancelling and we are going bankrupt, I'll sell my appartement and move into the Seaduck if I have to. Even when pirates capture my crew, I will come and rescue them myself. But I'm also a mother…and when things like these happen I am lost. I can take on the Khan Coorporation but when I have a parenting problem I am lost!"

"Don't you think I'd rather be at twohundred feet dodging bullets and keeping my plane in one piece? The most scariest of emergency landings, the most dangerous of crashes…I'd do anything to trade this problem with them. But there's nuthin' I can do now. I know this isn't my place but I guess that's the rotten part of being a parent"

"I'm so selfish" Rebecca slumped back into her chair "Did you get any more information?"

"Nuthin'!" He sat down in a chair across the desk "all I know is that Kit and Chris have left the city about two days ago onboard 'Air Freedom' whatever that is. I never heard of it"

Rebecca frowned and a sudden realisation hit her "If I'm remembering correctly…" Baloo looked at her, not understanding but hopeful none the less "Air Freedom is a charity company helping out drifters in random towns. Quite a good move of Kit…it's a member of the 'Friendly Flight' program so they can hitch rides to wherever they want free of charge. But they can only get so far…if I could get the radio frequency I might be able to set up a meeting. After all, it's not so strange for a cargo company to give to charity this time of year"

Baloo's eyes seemed to shine a light all of the sudden as he jumped up from his chair and picked up the phone.

"Baloo? What on earth are you trying to do?"

"Hey Beckers, you're not the only one with connections! Gimme some credit fer a change" He formed the number, thinking hard every time he turned the disc. Much to his relief, a familiar voice answered

"Cape Suzette Cliff Gunner Union, Jim speaking"

"Hey Jim! Your old pal Baloo on the other end…how are things going up there?"

"Great…or do you have a tip to get us all worried again?"

"Not this time…I need a favour"

"Go ahead, I owe you one anyway. Shouldn't have stopped you two days ago…"

"Aw, don't mention it. It is related though. I need the radio freq for 'Air Freedom'"

"Go through the directory Baloo"

"I already did…it isn't listed"

"I'd be glad to help, but I need to know what you need it for. Rules are rules Baloo, even for my friends"

"Bosslady wants to make a donation…business has been quite good this year and we have some shaboozies to spare"

"Are you sure this is about a donation? Air Freedom is the prime suspect in a kidnapping"

"Hey, come on Jim…it's me! Would I be involved in a kidnapping?"

"Don't make me talk. But I'll give ya the benefit of the doubt. The reason this guy isn't listed is because he still works LF. Tune in to….102.7 KHZ and hope he is around to hear your broadcast"

"Thanks a lot Jim, you're a real pal"

"No problem, but you do me a favour now and tell AC and his pal to come pick up their new licenses or return in 24 hours. I can't let them back in after that without a license Baloo…no exceptions this time"

"I'll relay the message and don't worry: you're just doing your job"

"And I like to think of myself I'm doing a great job. Let's keep it that way, shall we?"

"Understood Jim: no more exceptions! Tell the old gang I said hi, okay?"

"Sure will. Seeya later jellybelly"

"We're not in highschool anymore Jim…seeya later!"

Baloo hung up, mixed emotions welling up inside him. It had been a while since he had talked to Jim. They went back until elementary school and never did Baloo get rid of his nickname 'jellybelly'. At least he had someone to rely upon in times like this…his one and only 'connection'.

"Who is this Jim?" Baloo had completely forgotten about Rebecca

"An old pal…anyway, I have the info. 102.7 KHZ"

"KHZ? But that's…"

"LF, I know"

"Great…our only chance is in the hands of a 50 year-old communication system"

"Better have bad odds than no odds at all Beckers" Baloo shot back as he climbed the stairs to the radio room

Rebecca no longer knew what to do: she couldn't deliver, she couldn't make contracts and she couldn't go get Kit and Chris herself. Desperate for a little action, she picked up the phone.

"Hello, Sarah? …Yeah, it's me. How's Molly?…I know, I miss them too…no, no news yet but Baloo is trying to contact…she did what? I'm so sorry…what do you mean you didn't like that painting anyway? I gave it to you a year ago…no, I didn't really like it myself…hehe…I'm still gonna talk to her about that tonight…yeah, she can have some Frosty Pep, but only if she's good…listen, I probably won't be home again tonight, so make sure Molly doesn't stay up too late…thanks a lot…see you later tonight"

Well, even if this situation was getting out of her control and she was helpless to stop it, her own child shouldn't have to suffer under that. Molly was heartbroken enough at it was, there was no need to deny her attention. Rebecca climbed the stairs to the radio room. Baloo was sitting behind the old LF-radio, an ancient headset pressed to his ears. Somehow, he seemed exited, turning the dials and connecting the battery. For some reason, the entire equipment was still in topshape

"Baloo, how come that radio is looking like it was just delivered?"

Baloo grinned and spun his chair around "Well…what do you think Kit and I do around here when yer home? Sit around all the time? This is kinda Kit's project…and ever since Chris got around, this baby has been working like never before. Pure irony huh?" Baloo turned around again and switched the radio on. A soft hum acknowledged the life in the ancient machine. At the top of the crow's nest a small kite detached itself, dragging a metallic wire with it in the air…with a burst of static, the LF radio announced its return to active duty. With extreme care, as if afraid to damage it, Baloo turned the main dial to 102.7. Much to everybody's frustration, nothing happened. Rebecca grunted "Whoa, hold yer horses Beckers, this guy doesn't even know we're around yet…Higher For Hire callin' Air Freedom, come in Rudder…repeat, Higher fer Hire callin' Air Freedom…get yer buns to the mike Rudder"

"Cool it pal…no one gets on a first name basis this time of day unless it's really good. So, what's your line?"

"Cargo business with a lot of money to spend and nothing to spend it on…interested?"

"I don't take charity, I got my pride"

"Whoa…who said anything about charity? This is merely a donation to get our conscience clear and feel good about ourselves"

"Listen bub…can I talk to the manager please? I don't deal with employees"

"Huh? What makes ya think I'm not the manager?"

"'Get yer buns to the mike'? Nice try…typical cargo jock slang…gimme the manager or get off my freq!"

"Rebecca Cunningham…I must apologise for my rude staff…I don't quite understand this radio thing"

"No problem M'am. I believe this concerns a donation to my organisation?"

"Business has been good this year despite the obvious monetary problems our nation is currently undergoing. We were lucky and wish to share this with the less fortunate"

"One thing you must understand Miss. Cunningham: nobody will know where this money came from and since this is a non-profit organisation I can't really offer anything in return"

"Mr. Rudder, all I ask is to meet you personally. I heard so much about you"

"uhhmm…that had better be somewhere around Port Green…my flight plan is sketchy at the time and I don't think I'll be able to fly a great distance"

"Our company is based in the harbor of Cape Suzette. Meeting us is the only requirement

"Listen lady…I can't just leave here. Besides, I need a permit to enter Suzette. Mine has ehm…'expired'"

"We'll be able to get you in Mr. Rudder and there's a fair amount of money involved…I beg you to reconsider your refusal"

"Anything to help the drifter M'am. I can be there in five hours"

"We'll be expecting you"

Rebecca switched off the radio and took off the headset. She turned around and looked intently at Baloo. The grey bear stood there, mouth agape, wondering how she had pulled that off. Rebecca got up and started down the stairs, closely followed by Baloo who was still baffled by her negotiation skills. Once downstairs, she sat down and took her pen

"Well, shouldn't you be calling Jim now?"

"You're something else, you know that?"

In Port Green, Rudder slowly put down the microphone and started to think. Why did that adress sound so familiar? His mind didn't seem to be able to come up witht he answers he was looking for. Absently looking out of the window he spotted a uniformed dog walking up to the plane

"Great, now what?" he murmured as he hurried to the hold

Inside, Kit and Chris were still having breakfast. Even though Rudder had let on he wanted the two to get everything ready, he switched back the very last second feeling they had learned their lesson. The two did let him eat first seeing as there wasn't enough room at the small table for three…the coffee was cold already, but they didn't mind a bit. Rudder stormed in and the two looked up. Someone banged against the metal door…

"Good morning officer. How can I help you?" Rudder greeting sparked a panic with the two cubs: they had to hide and do it now…

"Just a routine inspection sir…your plane has come in from another port and stayed for 24 hours. Regulations sir, I can't change them" The dog walked in, looking around. The first thing he noted was the table: it was set for two

"Is there anybody else on board?"

"Not at the time. That's just the breakfast of my flightcrew sir"

Frowning, the dog walked on, checking the cockpit and the rest of the hold. The officer didn't miss one single detail. With great interest he stopped at the barrels in the far right corner

"What's in there?"

"That's property of the CSIA sir…I'm not allowed to open them"

The uniformed dog took his notebook and checked. Appearantly he had already requested information about the flight

"That checks out…would you mind answering a few questions sir?"

"Not at all"

"We have reports your plane has taken off some time ago - the exact time changes per witness- and returned. How do you explain that?"

"My flight crew was taking the plane for a testflight. We had some problems with the ailerons, hence the takeoff and landing. They're all fine now"

"Okay. Where is your flight crew at the time? I'd like to talk to them"

"I'm afraid that will be impossible: they are visiting relatives in the vicintiy. They took a skycab and I don't know where they are"

"Is that a fact?"

"Yes"

"No it isn't" the dog looked up and forced his fingers under a panel. With a clattering sound the panel hit the floor, followed by two small figures. "Good morning, you're both under arrest"

The cubs lay still on the floor for a second: it was an eight foot drop from the ceiling. After a few seconds, they realised where they were and slowly got to their feet.

"Listen, officer…" Kit turned around and saw a familiar face "Jerry?"

"The one and only" the dog smiled as he helped the two to their feet "sorry about the drop. You almost got away with it guys: you're good. Next time clear the table and the rest of your tracks and you might be good stowaways"

"Rest of our tracks?"

"The table: muffins, coffee and a bowl of cereal…not the breakfast of a professional flight crew. The blankets: one neatly folded, two others just lying around…that means one adult and two children. The beds: one slept on and looking like a storm has passed over it…clearly, someone had a nightmare and continued sleeping in the chair next to the folded blanket, a clear sign there are children on board. And finally, behind the barrels, I found your airfoil Kit" Jerry took the lightmetal object out of his pocket and tossed it back to Kit

"Gotta hand it to ya Jerry: you're good! So, are we under arrest or what?"

"Why? Did you break any laws? Any I don't know of? Actually, I came to tell you your name has been cleared tonight. The judge has cleared you of all charges and in addition, I got a radio message through, cancelling the search for the two missing cubs. Appearantly the adoption sequence has been stopped and they are looking into the details right now. I wouldn't go back to Cape Suzette though: too many bounty hunters for the pirates"

Rudder had stood near the door, crowbar in hand. As he noticed Kit and Jerry knew eachother he had quickly put it away again. Now the two had mentioned Cape Suzette his mind was thinking about something else again

"Oh, yeah, almost forgot…A certain Rebecca Cunningham wants to make a donation. I have to get to Cape Suzette -today-. If you want to come along and get this straightened out now, I'm not going to stop you…"

"C'mon Kit: this is our chance"

"No Chris, not yet…they expect us to go back now…much too dangerous. Besides, I haven't shown you around Port Green yet"

"Listen guys, you can stay here if you want, I'll be back tomorrow anyway. I'll ask about the situation, don't worry but I want someone to look after you…Mr. O'Connor, I realise I must be asking a lot now…"

"It would be my pleasure. But are you sure you want to leave these two with an unmarried cop? I don't have any experience with kids"

"Neither do I. Just improvise…besides, these two take care of themselves, I just need someone to make sure they stay out of trouble"

"Aren't we getting you into problems Jerry? I mean, you can't just abandon your post"

"Listen Kit…first of all, there is no war going on, I can take a break when I want one…besides, now they finally brought in those cop killers I've gotten a week off to forget the entire incident again. All I have to do is go downtown and punch out"

"Great, so that's settled. I leave in half an hour, can you pick them up then?"

"They can come along right now. I was on my way to the police station anyway…Whaddya think youngsters? I can give you a tour at the same time"

"What are we waiting for?" Chris was as always eager for action and he had never been in a police station before

"If you've seen one police station you've seen them all…but now I'm a guest maybe I'll get another treatment for a change"

"Hey kid" Jerry crossed his arms and looked at him with one eyebrow raised "morbid and bad jokes are my departement allright? I'm the wiseguy in this city and you're not gonna outstage me, is that understood?"

"I'll try"

"Listen" Rudder sat down on his knee and put an arm around the cubs "you two have fun allright? And keep Jerry out of trouble"

"HEY?! Is this a joker's convention? Come on, get out of here scamps" Jerry smiled as the two hurried outside. He walked over to Rudder and put his hand on the bear's shoulder "Don't worry, I'll take care of them. You clear up that mess in Cape Suzette okay?"

"Don't worry, I'm not leaving there without an explanation"

Jerry squeezed Rudder's shoulder once more and left. The black bear sat down in the pilot's chair and started the engines. Moments later, the Conwing made his way to Cape Suzette

"Hope you don't mind I still have to get back to the punchclock"

"It's your job Jerry, we understand"

The three walked in silence to the centre of the city. Kit was strangely silent. He knew it was too unsafe to return to Cape Suzette already, but he longed for home…the smile on Rebecca's face, Molly's laughter…the incomprehensible banter of Wildcat and the loving arms of Baloo. He missed them all in a strange way he had never felt before. Glancing over at Chris he didn't get a reading at all. They were twins, but neither could guess the other's feelings. Kit knew chris had to be hurting too…the boy had never said anything about it, but getting pulled away from the orphanage like that must have left its marks. After all, he had friends there…none he would ever see again. Chris kept strong though, seeming to have contented himself with being around his long lost twin brother all day. This situation just wasn't healthy…

"So Jerry, how long are you allowed to keep someone locked up?"

"Under normal regulations…"

"24 hours without accusation, one week in special cells when room is lacking in other confining centres but under Marshall law these regulations are overruled by whoever seems to be in command…all of this is invalid to minors: a regulation known as the Graham act, instituted in 1925 to stop stealing orphans from being imprisoned too long…does that sound about right?"

"I'm not even gonna ask how you found all that out…ah, here we are"

Jerry opened the door to a rather small building that resembled in nothing to a well equipped police station…the most modern piece of equipement in the station was a rusting punch-clock. Desks were scattered around the main area that appeared to be the biggest in the entire building, arrestants were massing in improvised holding cells and the smell of fungea filled the atmosphere.

"Is_this_the West Side Police station?" Chris asked, unbelieving

"No" Jerry slid his card under the punch-clock and smiled happily at the recorded working hours"this is the PGPD HQ"

"This place is a dump! What happened to the old HQ?" Kit exclaimed while looking in disbelief at the sparsely lit room in front of him

"After the attack of the crime syndicates the state declared Marshall law in Port Green. They sent in the army to take care of the menace. They took over our infrastructure and we had to make do with the limited funds we had at the time. Governement funding is still lacking while the army's budget is skyrocking. All modern equipement we have left is stored at a secret adress uptown where we also stationed our SWAT team. These boys see heavy duty and double shifts to do the dirty work for the army…as for us, we're just spies for general Wilsis. His soldiers don't patrol the streets, we do. His men aren't at the front line, we are! One day we'll mop up the head of the last crime syndicate and this mess will be over. But until then this situation is FUBAR…"

"FUBAR?" Chris didn't seem to grasp the meaning of the word and Jerry smiled back

"You're too young for an explanation…the language is not appropriate"

"I thought the army wasn't allowed to operate on national territory. Don't we have a federal charter for that?"

"Somehow Wilsis managed to get permission from the President himself" An old chimpansee replied from the first desk. He had listened in on the conversation, a sign reading 'Chief of police' in front of him. Everything about the PGPD seemed old and the chief was no exception "the locker room is free Jerry" the chief tossed him a little brass key "are these new arrestants?"

"Do they look like arrestants? They're just the kids of a friend of mine. He's outta town and he wants me to look after them for a day or two…urgent business, you know how these things go. Will ya keep them out of trouble while I change?"

"Sure thing Jerry"

With a sign of his hand Jerry opened a small door bearing an old sign reading 'locker room'. The chimp gestured for the kids to come closer and sit down.

"You two seem familiar…you're not wanted are you?" he stared at the two intently, looking for a description to match them

"Yeah, I was wanted for that attack on the old HQ. I swear it wasn't my fault" Kit figured it would be best to tell the truth to a senior officer. He would find out sooner or later

"Oh yeah…well, doesn't matter anymore: if the judge says you're innocent, I'm cool with that. Guess I owe you some thanks"

"Huh?" Chris had no idea what they were talking about

"During the attack, Jerry was in the building…he was the sole survivor of the slaughter, but only because one of the attackers locked him up. A working security camera registered a small figure locking the door…thanks a lot kid"

"You haven't told him about that did you?"

"No…"

"Why not? I mean, Kit saved his life"

"Chris.."

"Kid, listen…"

"No, let me explain this one chief" the chimp gave Kit a small sign to point out he wasn't going to interrupt "Jerry was working with a partner at that time. The two were quite close as far as I could see…when I let Fang and his crooks in they shot him" Tears filled Kit's eyes and his voice started to change "you should have heard him Chris…desperately crying out for Jerry to save him…in his final moments he thought of nothing but his friend" the tears streamed down Kit's face and even the chief seemed touched by the remorse the cub was showing

"Kid. It doesn't matter anymore!" He put an arm around the crying boy, kneeling next to him "No matter what you did, you saved Jerry and it's all in the past! Give yourself a break for once"

"Kit, I can't say I know what it's like to have a past like you, but my filosofy is this: life is a gift and I'm not going to waste it. I plan on taking each day as it comes and what's past is past! For the very last time, Kit, look at the future. We have eachother and face it, that was a one in a million chance. You never know when something good will happen to you"

"What I will always remember about that attack, is one small boy helping someone he didn't even know while he knew very well it would cost him the respect among his associates and quite possibly his life"

"They were never my 'associates'" Kit's voice was beyond sadness now, even sounding insulted. For long moments he considered telling the chimp next to him what he knew about Fang or even charging him with assault , but he quickly remembered what that meant: running for his life, confronting Fang and accusing him in public for what he did…it seemed worth while now, but the leopard_knew_things of Kit he could never admit and that could throw his life into mayhem once more. Fang would probably just shrug the charges off as he always managed to do and disappear to show up when Kit least expected it. For all these reasons and even more then he dared to admit, Kit remained silent on the moment he could clear his conscience and get Fang behind bars for good…

A door closed, a voice shouted and the chief turned around just in time to catch the brass key that flew through the air in his direction. "One day I'm gonna catch you offguard"

Jerry emerged out of the door opening, having traded his police uniform with easy fitting shirt, jeans and boots. As was their custom, he still had the police scanner with him at his belt. The shepard dog looked at the strange scene in front of him with some surprise

"What? Is something wrong?"

Kit wiped the tears of his face and stood up

"No…let's go"

The chief looked at him with sad realisation and reached in the drawer of his desk. Frantically searching, he felt what he was looking for. Spreading the paper in front of him he took a pen and wrote something on it. A whistle stopped the dog and bear cubs in their tracks, just as they wanted to leave

"Hey kid, here's a little souvenir" the chief tossed the paper to Kit who caught it with his right hand. It felt like a poster of some kind and the boy unrolled it to see what could possibly be on it. A smile crossed his face…from the paper a mugshot of himself stared back, the word 'wanted' now preceded 'no longer'. As Kit rolled it back up Jerry mouthed a 'thanks' to his boss. The chimpansee smiled back for a moment and resumed his paperwork.

The trio had been walking silently through the almost empty streets of Port Green, just enjoying the nice weather on this autumn day. Neither of the cubs knew what Jerry had in store for them but were grateful that he had agreed to keep an eye out for them. Street after street they followed him closely trusting the dog with their fates. A huge structure suddenly blocked out the sunlight as Jerry started to grin. He turned around to face the two kids behind him

"Gentlemen, behold 'Rolling Thunder'!" The dog made a gesture towards a structure behind him. Chris stared in astonishement to the biggest rollercoaster he had ever seen. Towering up at least 1 000 feet, the structure dominated the cityscape in the vicinity. All around it, smaller attractions had been built to accomodate the less daring. Jerry wrapped an arm around Kit

"Remember what I promised you?"

"I think it was 'If I meet you when I'm not on duty I'll take you to the Santa Angelica Pier'…wow, you weren't kidding"

"Wait until you got a ride on 'Rolling Thunder'. Or did you think a city under siege can't have any fun?"

"Man, I heard about it, read stories about it and saw hundreds of photographs but they were right: this thing is huge" Chris exclaimed, still staring up at the collosal rollercoaster.

Kit slowly realised why they were here: Jerry was determined to keep their minds of Cape Suzette as long as possible. He smiled in gratitude and put his hand on Chris' shoulder

"Well bro…I understand if you want to ride this one out on the ground"

Chris looked at his brother, mildly insulted. Kit beamed with confidence and Chris wasn't going to ruin the fun now

"Heck no! I always wanted to try this one"

"It's settled then!" Jerry led the two to the entrance to the amusement park. A walrus greeted them from miles away

"Hey, Jer!"

"Hello Carl! Remember when I caught those pickpockets?"

"Who could forget? These little leeches were destroying my business"

"You told me then that if I needed a favour I just had to ask…well, I need one now"

"Go ahead!"

Jerry pulled the two cubs closer to him "I'm looking after the kids of a friend and they need a break…could you let us in for free?"

The walrus rubbed his moustache, almost if calculating something. Scratching his head, he reached a decision

"What the hey…why not? With what you saved me in damage claims they could bring all their friends along for all I care. Entrance and attractions are on me"

"Thanks a lot Carl"

"No prob Jer"

The three walked in the park, the two cubs eager to get to the main attraction. Jerry was still smiling, feeling oddly comfortable in his newfound father role. There was no need to come here, there was no way he could afford it but he did it anyway, just to keep the kids' mind of their problems and to see the joy on their faces when they were having fun. Nothing, absolutely nothing could compete with the sight of two excited kids in an amusement park…at least not to Jerry, not now.

But kids come with responsibilities, like coming back every night or morning and be there when they needed you. He could not make that kind of commitment, not because of his character but because of his work. All too often Jerry had seen his friends die in the heat of the moment. If he had children and a wife and walked out the door each morning, he couldn't make the promise he'd come back…it wasn't his call. It saddened him to think that his dedication could bring so much happiness to others and deprive him of his own.

None of that seemed to matter today however, when they approached the 'Rolling Thunder' cars. A ride had just ended, the passengers arriving ecstatic or in shock. As the bravest helped the others out of the cars, Chris gulped and tought again about what he was about to try. Fear overcame him until he felt a hand on his shoulder. Chris knew very well Kit would help him through this and it was his long awaited chance to prove himself…he wasn't going to chicken out now. The three climbed onboard, together with other brave souls. This attraction was not for the faint of heart or elderly: several warnings decorated the side of the structure. Both Kit and Chris were surprised that all seats had a safety bar_and_a seatbelt. Jerry took his seat in between the two cubs, a strange laugh on his face that both kids noticed

"What?" It came as out of one mouth…Kit and Chris proved beyond doubt they were twins

"You know something we don't?"

"Yeah…have you done this before?"

"Are you two nuts? Do you think I'd try something as dangerous as this?"

The two cubs gulped but never got the time to change their minds as the safety bars clicked into place and the cars started their long climb to the very top of the enormous structure. This was usually the time when the convinced started panicking and the devoted got an adrenaline rush. The car climbed ever higher and gave the passengers a beautiful sight over the sea and cityscape. The initial anxiety gave way to a feeling of relaxation as all turned to view the scenery.

"You know, this isn't so bad"

The car had reached the apex of its climb and all braced for the inevitable drop…which never came. About a thousand feet above solid ground, a steady rail system rolled into view prompting a sigh from most passengers. Once again all aboard turned to marvel the view. Kit had been looking over the side but felt a nagging feeling and turned to look back ahead. He smiled and tapped his companions on the back. With a strange smile on his face Kit pointed ahead and both turned…the rail system had made way for an almost perpendicular drop. Everything happened in a flash from that point on…a click announced the end of the leading chain under the car as it topped forward and rushed back to earth guided by the weight occupying it. The drop seemed endless but curved back upwards after a few seconds. G forces squashed down on the passengers as the car rolled back up steered only by its current velocity. The rails tilted to the left, sending the rollercoaster in a left turn at maddening speed. Even in the turn G forces could be felt. Kit and Chris were now used to G's having been in planes quite a while. Jerry was obviously, as the other passengers, having problems keeping his breakfast down. Townspeople seldomly felt G forces and were enjoying their experience a lot. Kit was marvelling the view and trying to keep his sense of direction, not quite surprised by the G's. Nevertheless he'd feel better if he knew Baloo was behind the controls. Chris was looking at his brother and their newfound friend. Not surprised Kit was enjoying this on a different level then him, the cub just tried to calculate the fysics and distance to the ground. Jerry was positively terrified: he had clearly overestimated the impact of this attraction and his own courage. He had never admitted it, but his greatest fear was a thousand feet high and called 'Rolling Thunder'. For years the sight of this attraction taunted him through his own window, provoking him to come down to the amusement park at one occasion…thank god for those pickpockets. Turn after turn, drop after drop, climb after climb the attraction continued. Without much warning, the tracks tilted almost 90 degrees to the right and the car was sent in a fast downward spiral. Involuntarely everyone grabbed the safety bar while the spiral continued. Every passenger started to see stars as the turn increased the G force to 4. After about half a minute of 4 G's, the car stabilised and shot back up without slowing down. Even Kit and Chris had their eyes fixed forward now, surprised by the spiral. After reaching a peak and almost stopping, the car topped over again and shot down. Before anyone realised it they were rushing towards the ground. Once again the car shot back up but instead of just going to a peak again, it started a loop. The loop was followed by another spiral and drop. A chain caught the undercarriage of the car again as it dragged the contraption to the highest peak of the structure. The passengers watched in horror as the car raced down again and all beheld a clear gap in the tracks. With extreme speed it raced towards the gap…and stopped inches before sending all to a certain death. While everyone wiped the sweat of their eyebrows the tracks collapsed under them. Still standing on the detached part the car fell back to the ground, only to stop half an inch before hitting the ground. The car rolled forward and stopped. The ride had ended

As the safety bars clicked away, the bravest once again helped the shocked up. Jerry felt like all strength had left him and remained seated…staring without seeing anything. Kit and Chris both took one of his arms and dragged him out of the car. Slowly the dog regained his composure and looked around. He was seated on a bench, Kit and Chris next to him, both holding an icecream.

"Well, sleeping beauty, did you enjoy the ride?" Kit's sarcasm was amplified by his sheepish grin

"Intense! Give me a street gang with illegal automatic weapons any day but please don't drag me here again!"

The cubs laughed and Jerry realised he had lost his entire posture in their eyes. They no longer looked at him as the all-though don't-mess-with-me police lieutenant…but then again he wasn't sure wether they ever did look at him that way.

"Well, I'm glad I managed to make a total fool out of myself…Chris, help me out here: tell your brother you were at least a little scared"

The cub frowned "Scared? Me? Never!"

"You know, it took a lot of guts to get up there Chris. You're braver then I gave you credit for"

"You mean that?"

"Naw, just pulling yer throttlestick…offcourse I ment that" Kit added the last while putting his hand on his brother's shoulder

"How did you manage kid? I spent almost two years preparing for this and now I freeze…"

"Facing your worst fears isn't so bad when there is someone with you that cares about you. I had faith everything would end okay…although I must admit it got a bit dicey at the end"

"Right…ehhmm…I'd buy you an icecream but I see you have managed already in my paralysis. Now, unless you two have taken the money from me while I was counting stars Carl has kept his word and everything is free. In that case I'll take you two to the souvenir shop and let you go crazy. After that is over and the two of you are dragged down by the weight of twohundred stuffed animals we'll swing around my place to get some equipment for my favourite non-altitude and speed related hobby. Does that sound allright?"

"Not bad" Once again the voices sounded in union, both taking a lick of their icecream at the same moment

"Hey, you don't happen to have one for me do you?"

"Sure" Chris handed Jerry an icecream

"It's even strawberry. How did you know that's my favourite?"

The three stood up and slowly walked to the exit of the park

"Admit it Jerry…you're a popular cop. It's all over Port Green what you like and what not"

"It is?"

"NAW! Carl told us"

"Why that sneaky underhanded…what else did he tell you?"

"Well…"

Rudder was making excellent time! Although he had estimated arrival in Cape Suzette after a six hour flight, a friendly tailwind had gotten him there in four. It felt strange to return to the trade city so soon, being accustomed to leaving a place behind for at least six months. His business here was unclear. Sure enough he'd have to present himself to the money spending yuppie first, but the search for Kit and Chris' foster parents would be much harder. He had only one name to go on: Baloo. The black bear now regretted not having talked about him with Kit…he'd have to make do with what he knew.

Much to his surprise, the cliff gunners didn't protest when he requested landing clearance. After what he had been through to get out of here he had expected at least an entire squadron of fighters waiting for him. Without much formality, the gunners powered down their weapons and lit the approach lights. Two rows of red and green lights on either side of the cliffs appeared in front of Rudder's plane to guide it in. Higher for Hire was easely found on the west bank of the bay and the bear wondered what to expect as he walked in the strange building. As he entered the office, a bearess rose to greet him. Somehow, Rudder had expected this company to be a bit bigger and the woman shaking his hand warmly did not correspond with his image of a rich yuppie.

"…my staff and myself, I welcome you to Higher for Hire"

Rudder woke from his thoughts, decided to get this over with as soon as possible

"Thank you very much…I ehmm…had an appointment with Miss. Cunningham, is she in right now?"

The bearess offered her hand once again "Rebecca Cunningham, pleased to meet you Mr. Rudder"

"Rudder will be just fine M'am"

"Shall we get down to business?" Rebecca pointed to the easy chairs on the other side of the room. Both bears settled in a chair on opposite sides of eachother

"Now, I once again would like to stress that this will be an anonymous donation without any tax credit or other advantages that might be of interest to a cargo company. I would like you to think again so this decision is taken in good conscience and state of mind" Rudder could change from the jovial sympathetic bear to a businessman in half a second. Rebecca had rehearsed her role in this conversation carefully…Rudder wasn't supposed to find out their true reasons for this meeting until his mind had been rid of all suspicious thoughts

"The only reason I am considering this donation is not because of my current profit; I have almost none to speak of at this time, but because of my admiration for your work. Friends of mine are drifters theirselves and told me how much you ment for them. Such an endeauvour should not go unrewarded"

"I see" Rudder scratched his chin and stood up "Then why didn't you give the money to your friends when they needed you?"

"I thought…"

"You could soothe your conscience by giving me a donation…you really expect this to make up for every time you passed a begger and gave him a disgusted stare instead of small change?"

Baloo had just returned from a small walk downtown when he heard the voices inside the office. He clearly heard Rebecca in one of her usual pleads and another voice, almost shouting -must be another customer- Rubbing his fingers through his hair to straighten it out Baloo got ready to enter the arena…it was imperative that he could convince that customer to stay. After all, if the company went broke what would happen to his plane? Plus Rudder was coming in two hours: that guy had to leave before he arrived. With a determined motion Baloo opened the door, looking quite surprised although he knew there was another person present: rule number one, never let them see what you know

"Welcome at Higher fer Hire. No probs here I hope?"

"Would you please stay out of this, this does not concern you"

"Sure it does! I'm the pilot in this outfit. Just ask anyone: ol' Baloo is the best you can get"

Rudder's eyes turned to slits as a realisation hit him. He was betrayed…

"So, you are Baloo! What is this charade?!"

"Mr. Rudder, please" Rebecca tried to calm the bear down. She had expected him to be more cooperative

"You set me up! Did you think I would bring those kids with me huh?"

"C'mon man, chill!"

"Chill? CHILL? You expect I'm gonna give you those kids after what you have done to them?"

"Hey, hold on a minute bub! What in the west skies are you talking 'bout?"

"Yeah, act like you're the perfect parents, I didn't expect anything else! You know very well what I'm talking about. Those kids ran from something! They were desperate when I met them, Kit's been having nightmares about this place and Chris hardly says anything about you two. They refused to come back…they rather took their chances with a crazed mob"

Baloo listened in disbelief. This had to be a misunderstanding, but how was he going to prove that? Desperately his eyes turned to look at Rebecca. All she did was stare ahead of her, tears in her eyes. She was being torn up by these accusations but was already thinking of a way to prove her mother's worth

"Mr. Rudder, please follow me" She stood up slowly, tears still on her cheeks. Although he was steaming, Rudder followed her without protest…he believed in hearing both sides of the story. Rebecca opened the top drawer of her filing cabinet. Without searching or hesitating, she took two large files out and threw them on her desk

"Now, I want you to look at those and tell me what you see"

Rudder took the largest file from the pile and opened it. Inside was every morcel of information anybody could have about Kit, including his favourite food, hobbies and psychological profile. It was packed with small notes and poems. The first attachment was a file in itself: the details about Kit's plane. The second one, however, cast another light on everything. The second attachment were his medical records, hospitalisation details and serious injuries so far. Rudders eyes widened as he read the details of the last few months.

"Serious rib injuries, shotwound in the right leg, broken leg with complicated fractures, white cloud intoxication, ammonnia…what have you done to this kid?"

"Rudder, from one pilot to another, we didn't do anything. But the kid's got a past he won't talk about and things he keeps hidden, even from us. Fer a kid his age he got too much enemies already an' I ain't talkin' 'bout no playground bully. The kid has to be on the lookout fer Karnage and his sort…and Fang, offcourse"

"Whaddya mean? Fang is your second name, isn't it?"

"Whoa, I'm not related to that skunk. Never met the guy but he's major league scum!"

"I don't get it anymore…"

"C'mon man, follow me fer a change"

Baloo started up the stairs and once again Rudder followed. He didn't get it anymore. When he got here he had a pretty good situational sketch in his head, but all of that seemed to be wrong. It was merely out of curiosity that he granted these people the benefit of the doubt. Once on the landing, Baloo opened the door to the room he shared with Kit. Rudder entered and saw a room most kids dreamed of. It wasn't anything fancy or overly decorated, but everything breathed the spirit of aviation: Posters of Whistlestop Jackson in his heydays, pictures of Rick Sky and a blueprint of an original Stropwith Dromedary decorated the walls. On the nightstand stood unfinished models of famous planes and in the corner hung a leather flight jacket with patches of the Belgrum airforce on the sleeves. Rudder took a long look around the room and couldn't hold himself to open the closet…a pile of comic books and aviation magazines fell out. Baloo turned a bit red: Rebecca had asked him to clean the room up a little but instead of organising the magazines and comics he had just thrown them in the closet. The black bear continued to look at the blueprints. With a frown he continued on to the flight jacket. Feeling the leather he studied the patches…they were authentic. The bear turned sharply back to the two figures standing in the doorway

"Nice room the kid has here. By the way, that blueprint and these patches are real…where did you get them?"

"Well, the blueprint was donated by Rick Sky himself out of gratitude and the patches were issued by the Belgrum airforce. We're still waiting for the stripes to arrive though" It was an offhand remark to Baloo, but Rudder was almost blown off his feet

"The kid didn't strike me as a soldier. He's too young to be in the army"

"Not in Belgrum. To insure the national safety cadets from twelve years old up can be put on active duty. Offcourse, he was a foreigner and the rank is merely honorary, but he has been promoted to Lieutenant and has flown with the Belgrum airforce on an attack mission. His squad got into the target area and rescued the hostages" Rebecca had requested every bit of unclassified information about that mission and the structure of the airforce.

"An' those hostages was me an' Chris. Kit dove off the Vulture to save him but I couldn't reach them in time. They spent at least ten minutes in the water before I could pick them up. That's how they got that ammonia"

"Speaking of Chris, where does he sleep?"

"I will be honest with you Mr. Rudder, Chris has no room right now. One day after we got him out of the orphanage he got that ammonia. I kept them both at my place until they were healthy enough. The room is still under construction"

"Not too small a room I hope"

"Yeah, well, we ain't exactly have lots o' room here"

"I know very well he's claustrophobic. But he asked me never to say it to Kit"

"Chris has been trying to prove himself to Kit every second they're together. Even stole my plane to prove he could fly"

"Chris is one heck of a mechanic but Kit is the pilot of the two. Taught him myself"

"Tell him to work on his landings…he stalled the port engine on the approach"

"Strange, he never did that before"

"Listen…ehmm…I owe you an apology. I didn't have much information and made my own conclusions. I was wrong, sorry, it was never my intention to offend you"

"No hard feelings bud, just wish the adoption board would think the same"

"The adoption board?" Rudder was puzzled and still had no idea what the two kids ran from. Baloo gestured Rudder to go back downstairs. The bear was about to get his explanation…

Three figures sat quietly in the golden light of the setting sun. At the very edge of the old pier three fishing lines reached out a short distance over the ocean. The figures, one big and two smaller ones, had been sitting there for two hours, enjoying the peace and quiet and watching the waves roll in. Catching a fish was secondary. Jerry had been surprised that instead of going crazy in the souvenir store the cubs had gotten_him_a surprise. Carl had told them of Jerry's hobby and they had somehow talked the manager into going to buy a fisherman's hat for him. Once they got to the souvenir shop, Carl had returned and hidden it among the other items. Jerry wore his new prize with pride.

Neither of the three had caught a single fish or said much in these two hours, but enjoyed the sunset. Waves broke against the pier with a steady sloshing and seagulls cried out in the distance. To the three, this moment of silence wasn't ment for fishing, but for thinking and relaxing. Kit was facing an internal struggle…what he knew could rid this city of its problems, but fessing up would mean a serious risk. He was able to save himself and those he holds close once from having their lives ruined, but saying what he knew now would undo all he had gone through. Could he really let his brother go through that? Somehow he was lost in the maze of his own emotions. Jerry turned his head to the left and watched Kit think. The cub felt his gaze on him and looked back. Still thinking about what to say, he looked in Jerry's eyes and saw pride but also sadness. He couldn't bring himself to say anything so they kept staring at eachother until a tug at Kit's line made him turn

"Easy now Kit, reel him in slowly"

Kit started to reel in his fish, eager to catch something after all this time. Every time Jerry asked him to turn slower the cub turned faster. The line was about to snap

"Kid, sometimes it's better to be patient for a good result. We have all the time in the world"

Calming down, Kit turned slower and his catch came closer to shore. Chris had left his line alone and stood ready with a net. A few seconds later the fish was captured.

"You know kid, that was a nice catch" Jerry was admiring the fish caught in the net. He was a sportive fisherman though: the net was still submerged in the water so it wouldn't kill their catch

"I didn't think I'd get anything after all this time"

"It doesn't matter how long it takes or how hard you have to work for it…it's the result that counts"

Kit took a pebble in his hand and threw it in the water…after skipping three times it sunk to the bottom of the ocean

"You know, don't you?"

Jerry sat down next to the cub and threw a pebble away himself. It hit the surface with a splash and sank

"You really should teach me that sometime"

Another pebble skipped the surface. Chris had mixed himself in the conversation

"Jerry, I might not know you very long but I know when you're not telling something"

"Allright…Kit, this trip wasn't ment to get information out of you, but Jacob told me you knew Fang…and that you were an accomplice in that HQ attack"

"I was cleared of all charges Jer"

"Offcourse, but we rounded up most crime syndicates in this city and that attack was a joint venture of all of them…you are the only one that knows who we're missing. Would you care to tell me Kit?"

"Jer, don't do this to me" Kit stared out to the ocean. The horizon was still lit in a golden light but shades of purple started to color the sky as the sun had almost completely sunk behind the line of vision

"Listen Kit, this city is being torn up, friends are dying and as far as I know there is only one person that can stop it"

"I wish I could help you Jerry…but I can't"

"Dammit kid, why won't you help me? What can possibly be so important you won't tell anything?!"

"Jer, please" tears started to form in Kit's eyes…tears only his brother saw

"OH COME ON KID, SPILL IT! MY FRIENDS ARE RISKING THEIR LIVES AND ALL YOU CAN DO IS TURN YOUR BACK ON US!" Jerry had lost his patience and long surpressed anger welled up and lashed out to a troubled child

"Fang abused me, allright?" tears streamed down Kit's face and his voice broke "He abused my trust, posed as my father for over a year and when I trusted him most he beat me half cripple. Four days later he did it again. Every time I so much as sneezed without his permission he almost killed me…He…I…" Kit buried his head between his legs. Jerry felt his conscience slapping him upside the head as he saw the kid he was supposed to be looking out for crying because of what he almost forced him to say. Chris put his arm around Kit's shoulder and tried to calm him down. Jerry hugged them both close

"I'm sorry…I shouldn't have taken that all out on you. If I can ever make this up to you, just…"

Kit raised his head and wiped away the tears. It was time for a decision, this couldn't go on any further

"Jer, I wanna…I wanna go downtown and press charges against Fang"

O'Connor was a bit surprised. In his years as an officer of the law he had never heard a child say that

"You know what that means, don't you? Full confessions, details and everything put on paper, confrontation with the accused…are you up to that?"

"I don't care Jer…this ends here"

In the golden sunlight that was slowly giving way to obsidian, the three figures stood up. They gathered their fishing equipement and the tallest walked in between the smaller, holding them close, protecting them from whatever harm that might come their way. The sky turned darker by the second, the night closing in on the city.

"I can't believe this" Rudder listened to the tale with disbelief, and he vented that clearly. For many years he had trusted organisations like his to do what they had to. In a world fouled with corruption they cast a bright light on society. Now his trust was shattered. Was the world as he knew it coming to an end? Everything he fought for vanished with the smell of money? "I didn't spend four years in the trenches at the Yrse to see all of it crumble. Anything I can do to get these traitors behind bars, you got it!"

Baloo knew very well how Rudder was feeling. All veterans had fought for a better world, only to come back betrayed and homeless. Like his own family…

"Rudder, I know how ya feel man…I wasn't at the Yrse but my brother was, and my father. From what my dad told me, I know it was hell. My bro never came back but I used to think he died for a cause. Until my old man died and they took away all I had. You're the only one that can stop them from taking away all I have now"

"Tell me how"

"Be at that hearing tomorrow, and help us out…all we need is a trustworthy person covering fer us. You're a vet, they'll listen to ya"

"Ehmm…I hate to be the spoilsport" Rebecca had been thinking ahead and something didn't add up "but as far as they know Rudder kidnapped the kids"

"She's right ya know"

"Naw! Listen to this: Rudder, you're a good pal of ours and kind of an uncle to these kids. You said you was coming to get them two weeks ago, so you were in Cape Suzette to pick them up. You met them early at the old docks but they didn't tell ya what was going on…as far as you knew you was just takin' them on a lil' vacation." Baloo looked around the room, seeing the two others think. Rebecca raised a brow: his excuses for being late were usually better than that. Rudder smiled a little. He had delt with these kinds of characters before and this story had a good chance of convincing them

"Doesn't sound half bad Baloo…I'll do it"

Rebecca looked surprised "You will? I mean….I knew you would…will…would have…" Baloo and Rudder looked at her, laughing. She groaned and sat back down -nice going Becky: way to make a fool out of yourself-

The chimp was almost crying behind his typewriter. Sadness and anger welled up in him as he kept typing what his victim was telling him. Jerry was his best cop: if anyone could get info out of that kid it was him, but he was regretting it already. He had been surprised when Jerry had walked back in the HQ on a free day trailing a bitter looking bearcub behind him, followed by a worried one. The surprise was even greater when that cub stated coldly he wanted to charge Fang with abuse. For over half an hour now Kit had been telling his story, remembering every detail vividly. At first he was distant, cold and hard…all that had given way to his tears. With a weak voice, Kit was continueing his statements. Even in Port Green child abuse was about the worst crime a man could commit.

"So there was no medical attention after…"

"No" Kit could answer that without hearing the rest of the question. The chimp started typing, adding to the long list of crimes and statements. With a swift motion he rolled out the document and inserted another, placing the finished one on a pile

"Go on…but take your time, we'll do this on your terms"

"After the second beating he kept me captured in the basement and only returned to tell me how worthless I was. When I was a bit presentable again he let me go. I had to make do with what he gave me to eat from that point on and I was no longer allowed to leave my room unless I had permission. After a few days he had me going on another mission. It started out with gasstations and airports, but after a while I was breaking in large factories and semi-fortresses. The last mission I did for him before the HQ was and airplane factory…Stole the blueprints of the place and practically swiped the plans of their latest plane off the designers table. Later on the place was raided, but I was already running by then. Imagine my surprise when I saw the same plane in a pirate hanger"

"The Ct-37's?"

"Yes"

Obviously, the chimp had a hard time believing Kit was the reason piracy had tripled in size the last years and 'forgot' to mention it in the report. But some more questions needed to be answered

"You said: when I was presentable again…what did you mean?"

"When the bruises had disappeared from my face and my nose stopped bleeding. Not that I was healed by that time though"

"So, again no medical attention?"

"No…even in the orphanage I saw one nurse, but he just ignored me until he remembered I was down there"

"Wow, slow down a bit…why would he forget?"

"Because every time he beat me he drank himself unconcious. If I dared disturb him then…well, let's say he was no longer responsible for his actions at that point"

"So he would just beat you up again because you came to ask for a bag of ice?"

"Guess it was my own stupid fault to think he'd help me"

"Don't think like that kid…why wasn't this noticed by the outside world?"

"What outside world? The only contact I had was with him and my indirect 'employers'. He pulled me out of school a long time before he told me what was going on…there was nobody to notice it"

"I'm gonna round this up for reference" the chief gave Jerry a look "any time you want me to stop, just say so, allright?" Kit nodded and Jerry got a bit closer to him…this was not going to be easy. The chief took the first document of the pile and started reading out loud. The officers on nightwatch stopped working and listened, wondering what could be so important that the chief himself had typed the reports.

"I, witness Kit Cloudkicker, sane of mind, fully understanding right from wrong and lie from truth…" Kit gave him a strange look the chief quickly noticed "sorry about that clause kid, but it's mandatory for minors. Anyway, I'll go on…hereby charge the leopard known as Fang, already wanted in several countries on charges of burglary, espionage and assault, with several forms of abuse whereunder assault, neglect and initiation to criminal activities. At the time of these offences I, Kit Cloudkicker, was approximately 9 years of age, increasing the charges to child abuse. Furthermore I can testify that the accused is an operative of a known and wanted crime syndicate and will testify as such when called upon in a court of law. My decision to come forward with this information was taken after careful consideration but I have reason to believe my life is now in danger. Nevertheless I shall confront the accused when needed…"Every so often the chief looked at Chris and Jerry. At times they subtly gestured him to stop for a second, giving Kit the chance to let it all sink in. The officers on nightwatch listened in horror at the testimony, some crunching their pencils out of pure rage. Kit had hoped it would feel better now it was all said, but hearing his own story told like that was a decisive blow against his tough-guy attitude. With Jerry and Chris by his side he could keep the tears to a minimum, but inner grief started tearing him apart…he had spilled it all, but left out what could save this city. Suddenly he stood up and took the first document in hand, taking a pencil from the chimp's desk. The chief stopped and stared. Kit blacked out all emotions and remembered Jerry's words…'my friends are dying and there's only one person that can stop it'…Several seconds later, Kit put down the pencil.

"There was a small error on the first page…read the corrected part again please" Kit's voice was cold, knowing he would now have his ultimate revenge on Fang. The chimp looked at him and then at Jerry. Only when the shepard dog nodded the chief took the first document in hand again

"…can testify that the accused is the head of a known and wanted crime syndicate…my god…"

Where everybody was quiet a few seconds ago, they now murmured uncontrolably. The person they had been looking for all this time…presented on a silver plate by a 12 year old kid.

"Kid, are you sure about this?" The chief's voice sounded exited, but also reluctant to believe that this kid knew the most wanted criminal in this hemisphere

"Fang set the entire attack up. He contacted the others with the promise they would get the ultimate target. Alone they didn't stand a chance, but together they could do it…I've seen the faces of the heads and I've seen the faces of their hitmen. I was Fang's hitman…he_is_the head of the last syndicate"

"Kid, if you want to testify this, I'll get you anything you want…police protection, governement support…anything"

"Can you guarantee me that Fang won't ever bother me again?"

"Once he's caught he's going to a room of six square feet for the rest of his miserable life kid"

"Good enough"

"You just made me the happiest man on earth…" the chief picked up the phone "hello, operator, get me general Wilsis…it's a matter of national security, wake him up!"

The officers were running around in an organised chaos, trying to get search warrants and a recent description. Kit didn't know wether he had lifted a curse off this place or opened pandora's box…but never had he seen these cops so active and hopeful. Without any warning, Jerry pressed Kit close to him, utterly grateful. Only when the cub made a pleasant gesture he couldn't get any air he let him go. Most officers shook his hand or tapped him on the back as they passed by…their town would finally be rid of marshall law.

"Yes sir…allright, we'll be there in ten minutes" The chief turned to the three in front of his desk "General Wilsis wants us to come to the old HQ, the SWAT team will be there too" The chimp took his jacket of his deskchair and whistled at the running officers at the same time. They stood still, awaiting their orders "We're gonna get the witnesses to general Wilsis. Chomansky, you're in charge of the search until I get back…and fellas, this is probably our only chance, I want to see professionals, not a mob of peasants with torches allright? By the time I get back you had better all have contacted every informant in this city! Failure is not an option!"

When the chief had left the office, the officers started running around again, shouting questions and phonenumbers to eachother…Chomansky couldn't do anything but participate in the chaos.

The cold air outside was a far cry from the Cape Suzette climate at this time of year. This entire city breathed a strange atmosphere and the night wasn't doing anything in its favor. Every so often the small group crossed a patrol of soldiers. After flashing their badges in the soldier's direction they could pass. Halfway to the HQ, a jeep turned the corner with squeeking tires. The speaker advised everyone to take their identification in hand and prepare for inspection. Another jeep turned the corner on the other side, sealing the street off. With a bored expression, Jerry and the chief took their badges for the tenth time that night. After they had explained what they were doing on the street and why they had kids with them they could go. Five minutes later they had reached the HQ…a walk that normally took two minutes. The reception there was cold as could be expected from the army. Kit recognised every hallway and read the obvious pain of Jerry's face. They passed the main hallway next to the security room when Jerry suddenly stood still. He closed his eyes, remembering every second of what had happened to his partner that night. Kit stood still too but quickly looked away from Jerry and noticed that the door to the security office was now made of bulletproof glass. He jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Jerry had ended his daydream and smiled down, knowing what Kit had to be going through right now.

"You allright kid?"

"Just wondering…would the lock on that toilet door still turn to the left instead of the right?"

"I'm glad you locked me in there son…you saved my life"

Cub and dog started walking again, a bit faster to catch up with the others. Kit felt good that Jerry didn't blame him for what happened that night, especially for locking him up. A weight fell off his shoulders and to Kit it no longer mattered how this turned out. His friend had forgiven him, that was all that mattered. After long corridors they entered the main conference room. Seated on the far side of a half circled wooden table sat a uniformed bulldog, decorated with stars…General Wilsis.

"Sit down and talk to me" It was more of a barked order than an invitation, but that didn't stop the four from sitting down quickly "you woke me up, dragged me down here and got me all worried over 'the national security'. What's your intelligence?" The two cubs frowned and the bulldog groaned at their ignorance "WHAT DO YOU KNOW? Jezus, I fear the day you two will ever be in the army"

Jerry stood up and banged his fist on the table

"Stop harassing my witness General. These kids don't give a damn about you or your military parade on the streets. If Kit's gonna talk it'll be when he chooses allright?"

"Allright…sargeant O'Connor. If any of you two midgets have anything to say, do so now or leave"

"Oh, I think you want to hear this" Chris sounded pretty sure of himself, making the bulldog frown once again

"Listen, I don't have time for your little fairytales, get lost"

"I don't care if you're going to degrade me to flatfoot Wilsis, but for the last time leave those kids alone and listen to them"

"I asked them to talk and they didn't…"

"You ordered them to talk…"

"Get used to the army Jerry, we'll be around for a very long time"

"No you won't" Both dogs turned their heads towards Kit who had opened his mouth for the first time since they entered "Because that would mean you can't find Fang…and I'll tell you exactly where to find him"

"Yeah right kiddo! Where was it, at the sea, in a forest, in another country…"

"Airway map 13/4 grid C5, Carmalina island, northwest side, how's that for accuracy?"

"Straight A kid" Wilsis was already on the phone, talking over an inside line "Walsh, get in here ASAP…You should have told me this was about Carmalina. The president is hanging over my shoulder looking at what I'm doing about it, the CSIA requested help from us and the SWAT team refused to go there after talking to the CSIA…what in the name of the Mettarmack is going on there, not now Walsh" Wilsis broke of his rant in the kids direction when a cat in uniform walked in.

"What's there is an unknown substance more powerful than your grenades and the one producing it is the head of the last crime syndicate in this city. If you had bothered to read the testimonies on your desk you would have known that…"

"Stop mouthing off at me kid…as for Carmalina, I'm well aware of the potential treath there and have already dispatched a mission there. Seems you two midgets just volunteered to be our scouts"

The chief was quiet all the time, knowing the temper of both Jerry and Wilsis that always produced fireworks when they met. The situation was getting out of control this time though

"Just one minute Wilsis. One: these kids are material witnesses and two: they are not qualified for military missions"

"Let's see here…one: I'm the highest authority in this town and I declare the testimony of these kids valuable but not indispensible and two: let's have a look at their background" Walsh threw him two files "military database, best in the world huh guys? Okay, contestant number one, Chris Cloudkicker, mechanical skills, great sense of direction, skilled in mapping, escaped pirates at least once with minimal injury. Impressive, you're drafted! Contestant number two, Kit Cloudkicker, known spy, advanced criminality, navigation skills, street survival, pirate, escaped pirates numerous times with minimal injuries, sabotage, burglary…very impressive. Walsh, two new cadets, bring them to the empty dormitory, give them each one pillow and blanket and make sure they get some sleep." Walsh practically dragged the two kids out of their chairs and led them out of the room under loud protest of both Jerry and the chief. Walsh opened a closet in the wall and threw them both a pillow and blanket

"Follow me, single file, no talking"

In the conference room, the discussion was reaching its hottest point. Jerry and the chief were standing up, yelling and insulting Wilsis.

"…a damn outrage. Just you wait until I inform…"

"…there was no such precedent so you can't just…"

Wilsis was listening to them both trying to yell harder than their colleague. A smile crossed his face, his finger found a buzzer. Three seconds later fifteen armed guards stormed in. Jerry and his boss were forced to sit down at gunpoint.

"Allright, now that we are all calmed down…I don't like to get these kids involved any more than you do: they're loose cannons. However, I don't have any professional scouts available at the time. Most are in Eporue to guard the Allemanian border, others have been assigned by the Federal Police Department. These kids are the only ones that come close enough to be even considered for that job. And trust me, nothing will happen to them: there will be an entire platoon guarding their six"

"Wilsis" Jerry had indeed calmed down on the outside, but inside he was brewing with anger "Their father will be around to pick them up tomorrow evening. If I have to hand him four dogtags instead of his kids I'll have your head". Slowly, Jerry stood up and left, pushing soldiers aside as they blocked his way. The chief watched him go and turned to Wilsis himself

"I'm not going to stop him…I'll even have your rank for dessert. If the mission is succesful I want you and your puppets out of here by Thursday. Any soldier still in the city after that will be arrested for disturbing public peace" No guard tried to stop him as he left, they knew very well he was not the one to mess with. When he had reached the door and was about to leave he turned one more time "Oh yeah Wilsis…I want to see two healthy, happy and smiling kids here tomorrow or you can kiss your stars goodbye and I'll be here with a search warrant with your name on" After giving Wilsis one last cold stare, he turned around and left.

Walsh had problems keeping the kids under control. They weren't military trained and refused to keep their mouths shut. But all their questions were answered with the same 'no talking cadet'. Finally the cat stopped at a door and opened it.

"Get in"

Kit and Chris entered a desolate dormitory, filled with over twenty old beds. Nobody had been staying here in a long time and the only light came from a small light bulb at the ceiling.

"Lights out at ten, reveille at six, briefing at six-oh-five, goodnight'

The kids cast a look around the room and the beds. Just before Walsh shut the door Kit whistled

"Hey private! Where are the matrasses?"

"First of all, cadet, you shall adress me with 'sir' and secondly, sleep on the floor if it's more comfortable"

"I'm no cadet *private*. If you had bothered to read my files you would know I'm a Lieutenant"

"When we are in Eporue you outrank me, but here you will do as I say" The crackle of Walsh's radio filled the room. With a quick and emotionless move he grabbed it and answered. "Yes sir…sir?…offcourse sir…yes sir, but sir I must object that….allright sir…understood sir, Walsh out" Stunned, the cat replaced his radio

"What was that all about?"

Dazed, the cat slowly considered his answer to Chris' question. What he had heard and been ordered to do was beyond his understanding, but he had learned never to question a direct order from general Wilsis. He quickly gave the cubs a military greeting and assumed 'the position': Heels together, arms behind his back and chest forward "Excuse me the misunderstanding sir, I shall escort you to the officers dormitory immediately sir!"

"At ease private" Kit loved this military talk, especially when he outranked someone. Walsh visibly relaxed and started twisting his whiskers nervously "that was Wilsis wasn't it?"

"Because of your topografical knowledge of Carmalina you are deemed 'mission expert'. That means you and your brother will temporarely assume the same rank as the mission leader"

"Speak freely here Walsh, just get us some matrasses and we'll be fine"

"But sir, I have orders to…"

"Walsh, matrasses, now!"

"Yessir!" Walsh smiled and left in a jog. This way he wasn't disobeying orders, but following direct orders from his superior. Within five minutes he had returned with not only matrasses, but also two canteens of water and maps for the mission tomorrow. He hastily gave Kit the maps and Chris the canteens and began to make their beds

"Walsh, we can make our own beds, thanks"

"Yessir, I mean offcourse sir, Imean…" He grunted and sat down "I'm not good at this. Sorry, but I don't relate to kids that well. That's why I joined the army in the first place"

Kit and Chris sat down next to him, surprised to see a glimpse of emotion behind the robot mechanics that the army consisted of. Kit started sniffling and Chris joined in. Within seconds the two were laughing themselves silly

"What?"

Kit got serious again, but still looked like he could burst in laughter any second

"All that matters with you is that you make the classic babysitter mistakes. We all have a mind of our own: use it!"

"You two just laughed at me in my face and that is supposed to make me feel better?"

"Walsh, it's all that uptight 'yessir, no sir, maybe sir' that is ruining your act…otherwise you would make a great pantomime"

They burst into laughter again, so hard that Chris rolled of the bed they were sitting on. Walsh ,however, didn't get it

"huh?"

They both got serious again and looked at him with a strange look

"You really don't get it, do you? Walsh, you hardly say anything unless it's in the manual of soldier groveling. Speak your mind for once"

"You want me to speak my mind? Allright I will! You are two indignant brats with a serious attitude, that's what you are"

"Congratulations, was that so hard? We've been testing you out all the time and you did everything we asked: the classical babysitter mistake. We don't outrank you: we're not even in the army. Just cut out the 'standardised army language' and you'll be fine"

Walsh looked at them. They didn't strike him as mission leaders or mission specialists…just two kids he was supposed to look after until this thing was over. He realised what he had been doing wrong all this time and why his sister's kids always seemed to get the upper hand. Suddenly he stood up and turned to face the cubs

"Allright, you're all set. I'll be back at ten to check up on you but don't expect me to sing you a lullaby. If you need anything, the kitchen is down the hall to the right and a medic is on standby in the infirmiry. Get some rest, tomorrow will be a long day"

Kit and Chris gave him a 'thumbs up' for the performance. Shaking his head half laughing, Walsh left and shut the door

Walsh came back at ten as promised, but Kit and Chris were already sleeping by then. They had spent an entire day on their feet and were tired as never before. Out of curiosity the cat shook their canteens…both empty. Although he realised he was now violating orders and regulations, the cat snuck out to get them refilled. After all, they were only kids…

5.30 AM. Even the fish in the harbor were asleep now. Utter quiet resonated from the wooden building with the crow's nest. All lights were out and the mechanic was having a day off, much to the relief of neighbouring companies that were growing tired of the early hammering. An unusual Conwing Classic bobbed up and down on the slow rythm of the waves, its owner and temporary inhabitant still asleep. The same peace reigned inside the building, although it was broken by snores. A cab stopping near the curb was about to end all that. This early and not one hint of sleep or tiredness on Rebecca's face…it was something Baloo never understood. She got in, checked the mail and went upstairs to wake up her pilot

Baloo was dreaming of the greatest party at Louie's he had ever been to. The room was swinging and Baloo was leading the rythm. All of the sudden the room started shaking out of rythm and a terrible sound overpowered the beat of the band. It was a truly horrendous sound, almost sounded like…

"Baloo, WAKE UP!" Rebecca was shaking Baloo's shoulder and the grey bear jerked awake.

"huh? Whesdafire? Beckers! It's only…" Baloo checked the clock and groaned "5.30. Lemme snooze fer another three hours"

"Come on, no slacking off today" Sternly, she started shaking him again

"Gimme one good reason to get up today" The bear settled his head back in his pillow

"Adoption hearing" the words had the effect of a red flag on a bull. Within fifteen seconds Baloo had gotten up, brushed his teeth and got dressed. Rebecca looked at the scene with amusement. Baloo's intentions were right, but his finishing touch was sadly lacking. The bear stared back

"What?"

"You're not wearing *that* are you?"

"What should I wear? Isn't this good enough?"

She opened his closet with an amused smile and took an old, out of style suit. The bear groaned…he knew there would have to be sacrifices

6 AM. Walsh softly opened the door to the dormitory, a strange smile on his face. Kit and Chris were still soundly asleep and Walsh felt like a heel, but he would have his revenge for his running yesterday. He closed the door and brought the trumpet to his lips. The classic army wake-up tune boomed through the room, Kit and Chris jumped awake, seeing the cat giving it his all

"Aww, cut it out!"

Walsh redoubled his efforts and two pillows flew in his direction. The cat stopped his recital and bowed. Kit and Chris applauded. At least they were able to teach some humor to one soldier. The cat got serious again and threw them both a pair of standardised camouflage army pants.

"Time to get up cadets, big day today. Briefing at 6.05, feel free to wear your sweaters but the rest of the outfit is mandatory…come on, on your feet, one two, one two…"

Kit and Chris started to wonder wether they hadn't taught him too much. Chris looked at the pants with disdain

"Why do we need to wear these old rags anyway?"

"These 'old rags' my young friend are the standard army battle uniform. I know you two hate 'standard', I know you hate 'army', but this is one directive you will follow. They're comfortable, they're fashionable and more importantly, they were the only things we could find in your size. As you see" Walsh started a showing off his own pair like a professional model "they are made out of the finest cotton with a stainless steel and bulletproof beltbuckle, stitched with the toughest of denim, ensuring both quality and durability without diminishing the comfort of the wearer. They are available only in camouflage colors, and the cost is one mission to a heated warzone"

Kit and Chris looked at the fashion show with amusement, interrupting it from time to time to clap their hands. By the time Walsh was finished, the two had geared up and were ready to go. Kit put on his cap and was ready to leave when Walsh stopped him, looking rather serious

"Sorry kid, the sweaters is bending the rules a bit and with a little imagination they can even pass for camouflage…but trust me" he took off Kit's cap "you don't want to have this on when we parachute in" He threw the cap back on Kit's bed "let's head over to the briefing, shall we?" He checked his watch "Damn, it's 6.06 already! Come on, let's go" The hurried out the room and ran down the halls to the briefing room.

In the briefing room, General Wilsis himself was adressing the platoon and press, noticing the three empty chairs in the front row. Pointing to a map, he marked the mission zone and the likely location of the facility. Everybody was taking notes not to run into surprises once they had landed.

"Now, as you all might know, we will be cooperating with the CSIA on this mission. The Port Green SWAT team and the CSIA officers are already on their way to the island in small landing craft. Their arrival is scheduled 35 minutes after you reach your dropzone. The CSIA sent us a liaison officer with mission leader status. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm proud to introduce…"

All heads turned in the direction of the door as three soldiers barged in. They immediately took their seats in the front row, coughs and laughs audible out of the mass. General Wilsis could easely let this slide, but his mood was below freezing point after yesterday's incident with Jerry. His gaze fixed itself on the three newcomers

"I'm so glad you could join us gentlemen. I hope you don't mind we have started without you but not everyone has the same knowledge of our mission area. And a briefing scheduled at 6.05 is not one at 6.07. Ladies and gentlemen, our new scouts for this mission, Kit and Chris Cloudkicker. Now if you don't mind I will introduce the mission leader. Our mission leader is one of the three famous Barkone brothers. We all know they're the ones to have by your side when things get hot and unfortunately two of them were already assigned to another mission. This particular Barkone marks the end of his career with this mission, ladies and gentlemen, Jacob"

Wilsis pointed to a chair behind him…an empty chair. Laughter and hilarity in the group as Jacob stormed in too. Wilsis took the mike again

"Seems everybody is late today, but here he is, Jacob Barkone"

Nervously, Jacob took the mike and got ready to speak. A high pitched squawk sounded through the room

"hm…ehmm..sorry about that. Got held up in traffic…as you may all be aware, the army is checking every vehicle out" laughter once again "allright, seriously now, this mission has been planned a long time ago, but it seems we have an extra prize hidden in that facility. According to witnesses public enemy number one is hiding on the soutwest side of the island…"

"The northwest side Jake!"

"Allright, who is the person that obiously outclasses me in mapping?" He checked for any personnel changes and found a small note attached. He quickly scanned it "It's a small world after all, we have the witness here as a scout, Kit Cloud….Kit? What in the blue skies are you doing here?"

"Don't ask me Jake. They let me sign a paper and here I am" Laughter all over

"We…ehmm…we ran out of scouts so…" Wilsis tried to defend his actions to Jake, but the dog was clearly shocked

"So you drafted kids?! We'll have a serious discussion about this when I get back Wilsis" He turned back to the microphone "Kit, Chris, report to me after the briefing together with any supervisor you might have. Now, on with the briefing, this facility produces a substance that has a remarkable quality: it explodes when shaken. That means no more timers or proximity settings: this stuff will explode on impact. We're not sure what this stuff is capable of, but we're not planning on finding out the hard way. This facility must be taken out or at least badly damaged. The personnel working there are prisoners, so don't shoot at them. They will have guards however and the possibility is real that they found a way to make bullets out of this goo. You don't want to get hit by those, no bulletproof vest will protect you against these suckers. Additionally, a wanted criminal named Fang is running this plant. Yesterday we found out he is the head of the last crime syndicate in this city. Needless to say, he is a priority target. Gentlemen, if we fail, this stuff will be used on raids against this very city and nobody can hide from it. Do not come too close to this stuff, it has unpredicted effects. Kit, Chris, this means you. If you find out where they store it, get out…no need in risking your health any more than you are already doing. Any questions?"

"Where will we enter the structure sir?"

"Our full battle plan will be revealed upon arrival at the dropzone. Gentlemen, this will be my last mission…make me proud! Dismissed"

The group of soldiers stood up, ready to get their gear and board the planes. Jacob gave Wilsis a disdained stare and the bulldog left without granting him one look. Jake went out to search the cubs.

"Mission specialists-scouts Kit and Chris Cloudkicker and 2nd Lieutenant Walsh reporting in sir!"

Jacob turned around, a bit surprised to see the three saluting him.

"At ease guys…You seem to feel good in your soldier roles"

"That's only because they know they'll be able to leave when this is over…Don't worry about their safety mr. Barkone, I'll keep a close eye on them"

"I'm sure you will Walsh, but hey shouldn't have been here in the first place. Any chance you'll be able to replace them before this thing gets on the road?"

"I'm sorry sir, direct order of general Wilsis himself. These kids know the area and the suspects. Their background is impressive and frankly, we're counting on them to bring us all back alive. Replacing them now would set the mission back at least 24 hours"

"Sorry Jake, we got into this before we knew it"

"Why didn't you tell me you knew who the head was?"

Kit was trapped and he knew it. He had told everything to Jacob, but as usual didn't mention that detail. If he did it would've put his life in danger too…but that no longer seemed to be an argument

"There are things a twelve-year old boy rather keeps to himself. Like confessing to an international officer of the law he had been working with world's most wanted" Chris answered the question for Kit, hoping to get his brother out of the ugly spot he landed in

"Allright, but you keep close to me when we're there"

"No can do sir, as scouts we will be at least 50 feet ahead of you at all times"

Jacob got desperate. These kids were taking this as a wargame, but this mission was bitter reality. The enemy wouldn't be shooting with paintguns here, and they sure wouldn't hesitate to shoot at kids spying on them. He shot a desperate look at the cat

"Walsh, help me out here"

"Wish I could sir, but they outrank me"

"Who doesn't?"

"Well, they assume your rank on this mission, so nobody outranks them…except general Wilsis, but they are here on his orders"

"Basically, what you're telling me is that it is hopeless: these kids are coming no matter what I say?"

"Yessir"

"In that case" Jacob sat on one knee to match the kids' height "promise me you'll be careful. We have a three hour flight ahead of us, I'll teach you a few skills that may come in handy"

"They wouldn't have chosen us if they knew we were going to fall for the first trap set for us, but anything you can teach us we'll be glad to learn"

"Good so that's settled"

"Carmalina mission, please follow me to the transports"

There was no turning back. The cougars led the soldiers to waiting jeeps and personnel transports. Being the highest ranking, Kit, Chris and Jacob got a seat in the first jeep. The line of vehicles sped through the city, leaving all signs of civilisation behind them after just a few minutes. Kit didn't recognise this area at all although he had spend quite some time of his youth in this region. After a few minutes he realised why: the road was lined with signs reading 'restricted area'. A fence showed up out of nowhere in the desert. The guards clearly knew of the approaching transports as the gates stood open. There wasn't much in the defended area: only three hangers, an airstrip and several waiting planes. Although the transports didn't stand still yet, soldiers already started jumping out. Walsh ran over the strip, a clipboard in hand.

"Intel, recon and attack, first plane. Support, heavy attack and demolitions, second plane. Medics and communications, last plane. Look alive, let's get this organised" He ran back to the first plane, the rear hatch stood open, soldiers already crowding the passenger space "Everybody out! Places have been fixed in here. Take your places in this order and this order only: Commander Barkone, Commanders Kit and Chris Cloudkicker, 2nd Lieutenant Walsh…well, don't steal my seat guys, Sargeants Chowolski and Reign and any private in random order. Second plane…"

Jacob climbed in the passenger space and helped the kids in. They strapped in on the bench that lined the side of the plane. The soldiers sitting across them gave the kids strange looks. One couldn't keep quiet any longer

"Why did you two accept this mission? Aren't cadets supposed to stay in the training center?" He had to speak up to be heard over the drone of the engines

"We're not cadets. Wilsis dragged us into this before we could say anything"

"So he did it again! Didn't he care what happened to the last kid that went along?"

"What happened to him?"

"He's captain of the track team now…weelchair division! Got shot in the legs…"

The two planes behind them revved up their engines. Someone banged on the hull from the outside and the first plane did the same. The hatch began to close and Walsh quickly hopped in.

"Everybody present and counted for? Good"

The three planes taxied to the runway and halted on the outer edge. They were not cleared to leave until the mission leader gave the green light. As their plane halted, Jacob took his radio

"Mission leader to control, we're all set to go here"

"Roger that mission leader. Transports cleared for takeoff"

A deafening rumble made all further conversation impossible. In the cockpit the pilot gave his machine full throttle. These troop transport planes were slow but incredibly strong. There had been reports of these planes returning with half a wing or without tail and still being able to land. The downside of it all was that they couldn't outrun another plane…but with 12 heavily armed soldiers in the back, who wanted to outrun an attacker? The engines were state of the art, but the turbocharger modifications made by the army made them incredibly noisy. Slowly the plane started to roll forward, and everybody checked their seatbelts one last time. The pilot clearly wanted ample speed and power for this takeoff…after long moments, the plane finally left the ground. The second was already rolling. Carmalina mission was on its way with a lot to fight or die for…

This was not a happy day for Hubert Levrai. His worst fear came true when Hammaway and Kollag walked into his office with inspectors of the board…they tore his office apart, finding hundreds of shaboozies in cash bribes and several bankaccounts under a false name. But all of that was nothing compared with what was happening now. Senator Dale, in charge of education and technically highest authority of the adoption board, never interrfered with these matters…up until now! Levrai heard the synthesis of his misbehaviour, followed by the inevitable punishment

"…therefore you will be removed from your post, active immediately, and will be solely responsible for any damageclaim. On with the show"

Dale had also promised himself and his wife that he wouldn't leave Cape Suzette untill the mess around these kids was cleared up. Charles was quite relieved when word got out: Dale was raised in the higher social circles and would undoubtedly find a cargo pilot inferior to what Charles had to offer. This case was as good as won.

"Now I would like all press and lawyers out of this room. If anyone has a few witnesses in his favor, feel free to let them stick around"

The room almost cleared completely, with the exception of Rudder and a long line of snooty, highclassed types in suits. Baloo gulped: his witness looked like he had been sleeping in a dumpster, and Charles had an entire army of rich and powerful friends behind him. Dale even smiled a bit when he saw what was going on

"Right, mr. Vanderauw, normally I'd say that this is an open and shut case: Miss. Cunningham withdrew her request and you didn't. All I would have to say is 'this board rules in favor of…'. But that's not going to happen *Charles*. You blew it big time with that bribe and we have another candidate. Can you explain your actions?"

"Why, offcourse I can" Somebody from the line of witnesses stood up and walked to the front "Senator Dale, this is my accountant …"

Dalle slammed his fist down

"I said no lawyers, no accountants, no secretaries, not even a damn employer!!! Everybody that can't guarantee Charles' abilities as a father OUT!"

The room now cleared completely. The long line of Charles' witnesses left the room without casting a look in his direction

"Well, it seems your friends have shown their true colors Charles. That brings us to our new candidate Mr. Baloo?"

Baloo was hypernervous: he was never good with offical stuff. But het fact the Rebecca and Rudder were there to back him up reassured him a little

"Ehmm…thank you senator sir. I..ehh…welehhmm…."

"Mr. Baloo, relax: there are no lawyers here"

"Well, senator, I've been taking care of these kids for as long as they have been in Cape Suzette, an' frankly I don't think ya should sell them out like that"

"Explain yourself…why would we be 'selling them out'"

"Propostrous"

"Mr. Vanderauw, shut up. Go on Baloo"

"Fer starters, these kids never got the choice. I think they're old enough to decide who they wanna hang out with. Plus, you don't hafta take my word for it, 'cause I have two witnesses here that can confirm I haven't mistreated them in any way. Rudder, would ya mind telling him what you saw when you first met us?"

Rudder stood up, Dale took a few quick notes

"Mr. Senator, the name is Rudder. I ran into the kids the day they ran away from adoption. They were pretty spooked at that time and judging by Kit's nightmares I figured there had to be something wrong with Baloo here. But what I found was a loving home. Kit had nightmares about his past the second he left Cape Suzette…that leads me to figure he has someone here he can trust…I think you can put two and two together"

Dale frowned and noted

"Short but powerful. Miss Cunningham, you are here in defense of mr. Baloo too?"

"Yes Senator. Now, there isn't much hard evidence that I can give you, but let me share a few details with you. This morning Baloo almost refused to get up, even though he has a free day today. Normally in this case, he and Kit are already at the park or in the runway cafe. Every night he sits in his chair, feeling downright miserable. He normally eats the napkin off the table, but from the moment Kit left he has hardly touched his food. Every time the phone rings his heart skips a beat, he ran all around the city to find Kit and Chris and didn't come home until it was too dark to keep searching. I've seen this kind of bond only once in my life…and that was between a father and his son"

Senator Dale noted every scrap of information he had gotten from the candidates and the witnesses, but didn't evaluate only by what he heard, but by what he felt too. He opened a map on his desk

"If the witnesses wouldn't mind leaving now, I think I heard enough" Rudder and Rebecca left the room and Dale got ready for the final round "Gentlemen, I have here the full description and details of both Kit and Chris. I will ask you each a set of questions. Let's start with you Charles. Give me the birthday and month of both kids"

"18 November, that makes them Scorpio's"

"That checks out. Now, what plane does Kit fly in?"

"P40 prototype…stolen form the governement no doubt. You'll get it back if you give me the kids"

"Really? Well now, tell me, what is Kit's dream in life?"

"Ehh..to become rich?"

"Mr. Vanderauw Kit has an airboard, what does he use it for"

" A boomerang?"

"What's his favourite breakfast?"

"I don't know! What are these for ridiculous questions?"

"Mr. Baloo, over to you. Their favourite breakfast"

"A bowl of cereal for Kit and Chris can eat an entire bag of muffins if he's hungry"

"What gang has he joined a while ago"

"Karnage's air pirates, but he doesn't like to talk about that…didn't even know that was in his file"

"It wasn't, and neither was that breakfast. Now something that is in his file…what's Kit's spelling average at school?"

"Dunno, I mean, not quite. He got better a while back though, an' he's been practicing every day"

"Mr. Baloo, what is his fastest time on the 100 metres dash?"

"Do I look like his coach?"

"9.37 seconds man! Don't you know anything?"

"Look who's talkin'!"

"GENTLEMEN PLEASE! It appears you both have a lot to learn. Charles, life doesn't revolve around money and statistics and Baloo, there's more to being a father then just taking these kids out for a good time. Parenting is everything! From the good times to the worst…nevertheless Baloo, I find you suited for fatherhood"

Baloo's jaw dropped and Charles gritted his teeth. This was not at all going as he had hoped. But all wasn't lost yet, he still had that ace card up his sleeve

"Mr. Senator I can prove beyond doubt that this man" he pointed at Baloo "is housing dangerous criminals. One of them even impersonated a family member to have me reconsider my request. Dale, he has pirates in his home"

"Mr. Baloo, you better have a good explanation for this"

"Aww, come on, these guys are harmless. They helped to stop that pirate attack a few months ago and since they were friends of Kit we took them in"

"Mr. Baloo, thank your lucky stars you look so trustworthy or I would've returned these kids to the orphanage"

"And what about me?"

"You actually believed we considered you after that bribe? Money can't buy everything and you just found out. Mr. Baloo, I'll get the papers arranged, congratulations, you're a father!"

Tears flowed freely over Baloo's cheeks. His one big dream realised…he was always a father to those kids but now it was official

"There are a few conditions though"

"Ya just made me the happiest bear alive, shoot, I can take it"

"One, you will ask advice about parenting to Miss. Cunningham on a regular basis. Two, you and your kids will drop by a counselor at least once a week until he thinks you are fully ready for your role as a father"

"No prob bud"

"Yes, well, don't break the conditions and you'll be allright"

Charles briskly turned around and left, slamming the door behind him. Dale couldn't do anything but laugh and entrust Baloo with a little secret

"I never liked that guy"

Rebecca was all nerves as she paced up and down the hall. This could still go so wrong…and if it did, it would kill Baloo. Kit and Chris was all she thought of the last few days and she figured she was ready for this wait but now they had finally come this far her nerves were killing her. Rudder looked at her. He had turned on the radio to distract her a little but noting worked. Suddenly his ears picked up the word Carmalina and he turned up the volume. The door swung open and Charles stormed out mubling 'this is not over'. That was all Rebecca had to know when Baloo followed. They fell into eachothers arms, thankful for the way this had turned out. Their joy was shortlived

"Dammit!" Rudder's curse resounded through the hallways and made everyone turn in his direction "they started already!"

"Started what?" Baloo was puzzled

"You didn't know, but there are some serious problems on 'my' island. The army is sending commando's!"

"Wow, that's serious"

Baloo turned up the volume of the radio some more, the announcer now well audible

"…not only because of the obvious military threath, but also for the apprehension of a criminal that seemingly has the hand in all criminal activities in Port Green. Needless to say this mission is the most important since the great war. Inside sources report that it may very well rid Port Green of the marshall law that has been plaguing the city for so long. We were present at the briefing where both general Wilsis as mission leader Jacob Barkone informed the troops that failure is not an option. Some strange personnel changes were announced at the very last minute. The strangest of these changes is the deployment of two minors in the roles of scouts. They were presented as commanders Kit and Chris Cloudkicker. Previously, one of them has repeatedly gone against pir…" Baloo slammed his fist down on the radio. It shattered in countless tiny pieces.His face set on thunder and without saying a single word he started down the hall. Rebecca and Rudder hurried after him

A small fleet of planes made his way through the morning sky. Inside, over thirty soldiers with only one thing in mind…the coming battle. For almost three hours, Jacob had been explaining Kit and Chris things they should know. They knew the basics, but things like how to identify themselves as friendlies was beyond them when they took off. Once they knew all they had to not to get shot by friendly fire he had continued with something more advanced. On their laps lay schematics, sketches and long descriptions. Jacob was teaching them how to recognise and disarm different types of mines. Both Kit and Chris seemed to get the hang of it quite quickly

"So basically, you just have to stop the blastcap from clicking back…"

Walsh was quite surprised to see how easely they took in all that information. Jacob was telling them stuff he hadn't even heard of. Jacob went on with the specialised scout tools and how they could be used to their maximum extent. Walsh smiled a bit and stared out the small window. A stretch of land came into view and he remembered their mission in half a second. He stood up and entered the cockpit. After a short while he returned. A red light filled the cabin.

"Five minutes until arrival at the dropzone. Get your gear ready"

Almost simultaniously the twelve reached under their seats. Kit and Chris found a toolbelt, several boxes of special tools and an empty gun holster. Walsh was right: these pants did come in handy to store it all. They looked around. The rest had geared up too, wearing helmets and bulletproof vests, a machinegun slung over their shoulders. Jacob looked at them and then at Walsh

"Walsh, what's the deal? Where are their vests?"

"Scouts don't wear bulletproof vests Jake: it slows them down"

"Walsh, their vests, that's an order!"

"Sir, these vests are too heavy for them, besides we didn't bring any more. They're smart enough not to run into a crossfire" He turned back to the rest of the soldiers "Get your parachutes and goggles from behind your seats and prepare to jump"

The soldier across Kit suddenly took the parachute out of his hands. After a quick study and an indignant look from Kit he gave it back

"Walsh, these kids have square training chutes. If there's any ground fire they'll be swiss cheese before they land"

"They're not heavy enough for regular chutes so we gave them these instead. We don't want our scouts to drift off over the ocean"

"You're nuts man! Note in the log that I'm formally against this"

"So noted. 1 MINUTE TO LZ, STAND CLEAR FROM THE HATCH" Under a loud hissing noise, the rear hatch opened, the chill air blew in the heated cabin and created a unique atmosphere. "PRIVATES JUMP FIRST, FOLLOWED BY SARGEANTS. HIGHER RANKING OFFICERS WILL JUMP ON THE SECOND PASS" Walsh had to shout to overcome the loud noise of the wind blowing in. Kit was just glad the goggles had been where they were supposed to: half of their equipment was missing. No vest, no helmet and something Kit hoped wouldn't be there, no gun. Red light turned to green. One after another the soldiers jumped, the sky filled with skyblue parachutes. Under these conditions they would be virtually impossible to see. The last one, sargeant Reign, jumped and the light turned back to red. Kit and Chris walked forward to the edge. Walsh sat down on one knee again

"Some basics: don't jump up or the tail will take your head clean off. Just dive off the edge like you would jump into a swimming pool, count to three and pull the ripcord" He demonstrated to Kit and Chris which cord was the ripcord "You have square manoeuverable chutes, you'll see the handles once it deploys. Steering is pretty straight forward. If you get caught in the trees, cut the cords immediately or you will sufficate. I guess there's nothing more to say but good luck, and give you these" He hung two dogtags around their necks, one containing their name and rank, the other medical information "I hope I never have to collect these" The light turned back to green and Kit was about to jump when Walsh stopped him "I had to give you this too" Kit felt his weight increase a bit and noticed the gun in his formerly empty holster "Smeth and Wisson caliber 45 scatterbullets. Use only when you have no other alternative".

Kit didn't answer that semi-question and dove off the edge as he had been told. Trying to keep his attention off the closing ground he closed his eyes and counted. On three he reached for the ripcord and pulled it. The sudden drop in speed took his breath away. He looked up and saw why that soldier had protested against this parachute. This large square chute with its loud paintscheme could be seen from miles away. It wasn't skyblue as the others, but red and yellow with in the middle something that resembled a bulls-eye. But everything stayed quiet on the surface. Kit knew he was extremely lucky: he and his brohter would be used for target practice with this chute. Jacob had jumped last, keeping an eye on the kids at all times. A sudden gust of wind blew them off course

"WALSH, THEY BETTER NOT END UP ON THE WRONG PART OF THE ISLAND!"

"THAT'S EXACTLY WHY WE GAVE THEM THOSE CHUTES JAKE"

Jacob turned his attention back to the kids and saw that they were steering back already. The ground came closer and after a long drop they landed. Jacob watched rather amused when the wind caught their chutes again and dragged the kids along. Some of the soldiers that had landed already helped them with their 'problem'. Walsh touched ground followed not much later by Jacob. Both started laughing when they landed

"Walsh, could it be you fogot a minor detail?"

"Oh yeah, almost forgot: when you land, wrap up your chute immediately"

"Thanks for the warning, I'll tell you where the mines are when you step on them"

Kit and Chris brushed the dirt and branches of their sweaters and took their maps "Where was our LZ?"

"About here" Walsh indicated a spot with a pencil and Kit frowned

"Jake, I told you the facility was on the northwest side, we appear to be on the soutwest side"

"Yeah, we were supposed to land here, out of sight of any defenders"

"And with 35 miles of ground to cover"

"How fast can you get us there?"

Kit had done estimated arrivals before, but in the air there was only one way to follow. Here he had two choices: either through the woods, or follow the coastline. He made some quick calculations

"40 minutes through the woods, and about two hours along the shore…"

"That's not good enough" Jacob took a map of his own "my men are landing here" he pointed to a spot on the northwest side " and they have orders to proceed with the mission, with or without us"

"How many men?" Walsh was quite concerned to hear their fullproof plan had sprung a few leaks

"No more than fifteen"

"When are they arriving?"

"35 minutes from now…get us there but keep your eyes on the watch"

"That's gonna be a problem"

"Oops, forgot" Walsh fished two synchronised watches out of his pocket "these got a worked in compass, so you won't lose any track of direction while you walk"

"Right" Chris rolled his eyes to Kit. The cub seemed eager to leave

"Stay at least 30 feet behind us and don't come closer until we give the all clear"

Kit and Chris started in a light jog, running due north. The first attack wave followed closely behind. The cubs were having fun despite the situation. But Kit realised this was no game and got a weird feeling all of the sudden. He hit the deck and dragged his brother with him like he had done on the old docks in Cape Suzette. Hiding behind a bush they looked around.

"Kit, what are we looking for?"

"Don't know…just got this feeling"

"There!" Chris pointed to a flash of light and grinned "let's get this guy"

"What are you going to do?"

"They gave us a gun didn't they?" Chris pulled the gun out of its holster and got ready to storm forward. Kit pulled him back to the ground

"Are you nuts? Put that away. This isn't a game, we'll let the trained soldiers take care of this"

Kit motioned to the back, but saw nobody. A bush started moving and crept his way. Jacob crouched next to the two scouts

"Enemy contact, 11 o'clock, 60 feet away"

"Confirmed" Jacob found the enemy with his binoculars. Several signs later other bushes moved and slowly made their way to the contact. More flashes followed, loud orders and a few gunshots. A figure hurried away due south…and tripped over the crouched kids. As the guard hit the ground, he saw what had pinned him to the ground. A strange grin crossed his face and his teeth flickered in the sunight shining through the trees. Chris reacted in half a second, pointing his gun in the guard's direction. The figure quivered and lay flat down, his hands on his head

"Don't shoot me, I surrender. I'll say whatever you want, do whatever you say, but don't kill me…please don't kill me"

Chris felt bad. He had expected the feeling of this incredible power to be more rewarding…instead it felt like he was torturing that man. Why would he shoot him: he never harmed him or his brother and they didn't know eachother. He lowered his gun…bad move. The guard shot back up on his feet and ran away. A shot resounded through the trees and shards of wood flew away from a nearby tree. The guard stopped, slowly turned around and sat on his knees. Reign had purposely missed, but he now had a clear shot. Walsh put his hand on Chris' shoulder

"Don't feel bad kid. It's hard to fire a gun for the first time"

Chris took his gun by the barrel and offered Walsh to take it away from him

"I can't use this…I don't want to use this"

"Hang on to it anyway" He stood back up "Two men stay behind to guard him, let's go"

Kit and Chris started running again, now noting every suspicious movement and flicker ahead of them. They were making good time, only fifteen minutes had passed and they were halfway. The undergrowth became more dense and things would now get dangerous. All of the sudden Chris stopped and crouched. Kit saw his brother stopping and made his way over there.

"What's wrong?"

Chris breathed heavily, sweat on his forehead. Calmly, he pointed down. A metal wire was tangled around his foot. One side was tied to a tree, the other side disappeared in the bushes. Kit motioned his brother to stay calm and followed the wire into the bushes. A metal object blinked in the sun…Chris had armed a mine. The mine itself was anchored into the ground, the detonation switch was armed, only the pressure Chris kept with his foot stopped it from exploding.

"What mark?"

"X-15 flying anti personnel"

This mine was extremely dangerous. It depended on the force of a running person to be truly effective. The victim would involuntarely kick the metal wire, rip the mine out of it's anchor causing it to propel itself upwards in the direction of the force and anybody with the wire still around his foot would soon ask himself where his head was. There were two ways to disarm this sucker: either open it carefully and remove the explosive charge, or figure out a way to stop the blastcap from returning to the position it started from. It was already armed, so Kit would have to use the second way. With amazing calm, he found a small metal pike in his toolbelt. While he gently hammered the pike in the ground with one hand, he took a small pair of pliers with the other. Once the two inch pike was in place he took the metal wire in hand and pulled it in the same direction Chris had been running. A few inches from his fingers, he cut the wire and wound it around the pike. After he had jammed it firmly in place he motioned his brother to cross his fingers. He let go of the wire, the switch inched back ever so slightly…and stopped. Kit and Chris both sighed in relief. They motioned the ones behind them they were proceeding. Chris ran two steps and fell down.

"Ouch!"

The cub grabbed his foot that was still tangled in the metal wire. The group cast a strange look at the accident. Someone had the common sense to call for a medic. Somehow, between the dogs and several felines the bear with the red cross on his helmet seemed out of place. Jacob looked at the mine…it had been professionally neutralised. Walsh didn't quite get it

"You evade a mine and get injured by the tripwire?"

"Kinda stupid huh?"

The medic was flexing Chris' foot and getting it out of the wire. He pressed on the ankle

"YE-OW!"

"Sorry. I take it that hurt?"

"Yeah, don't do that again. What's the verdict?"

"Sprained. Nothing major, but you won't be able to walk on it for four days"

"Jake, I'm not leaving Chris behind in the middle of nowhere"

"We're running out of time"

"No prob, I'll give him some support and keep him in the back. We'll arrive maybe five minutes later, but I think my colleagues can cover for me" the bear seemed to relate well to these kids, maybe because they were his own people…

"Allright, but Kit…no hero stuff. You two were doing great"

"I'll be fine. Chris, I'll see you in twenty minutes"

Kit ran back north and checked his watch. Ten minutes before the other group arrived…they'd have to hurry. If that group started the attack without the main attack group they'd be slaughtered. The compass in his watch pointed north so they weren't running in the wrong direction. How could he have missed that mine? From his point of view it was clearly visible and yet he missed it! Why hadn't he been more attentive? -Why don't you watch where you are going Kit?- His own thought made him panic…he had been running for a while without seeing where he was going

"THUNDER!" The voice boomed from his left. He was standing in the middle of an open plain

"FLASH!" Luckily Jacob had told them what to do in this situation

Several figures stood up. It almost looked as they came crawling out of the ground. Once again, Kit had overlooked the little stretch of black at the bottom of that grass. One of them was still pointing a rifle at Kit…somehow he didn't think they were going to believe he was part of the main attack group.

"Name and rank son" they slowly approached him

"Commander Kit Cloudkicker, recon"

"Yeah, right, 'commander'" Kit didn't blame that guy for being sceptical: he didn't believe it either

"Look, let me explain…" Kit set a few steps in the figure's direction. Several rifles clicked

"Stand still, hands on your head or we'll open fire!" When Kit complied the figure ran in his direction and took a look at his tags "well, whaddya know" he turned to his compatriots "These are either great fakes, or we are keeping the scout of the main group captive" Raised rifles were lowered and the figure near Kit turned back to him "Sorry 'bout that kid"

"No problem. You guys are five minutes early, and you were supposed to be on the northwest side"

"We encountered reefs on that side, so we had to land here. One of the craft was called back when we were halfway"

"Where is the rest?"

"This is it" He pointed to five others

"Six men?!" Kit turned back to a movement in the woods behind him "Walsh, what's going on here?"

The cat got to his feet, followed by most others "Sorry we couldn't intervene, but when a scout is captured it's standard procedure to…"

"We'll talk about that later, but this guys says these six is all the backup we're getting"

"WHAT?!"

"One landing craft was called back Walsh"

"Who authorised the retreat?"

"We got word that Commander Barkone aborted the mission. We checked in with the HQ, but they didn't know anything…so we figured only the CSIA was…is there a problem?"

Jacob appeared out of the bushes and saw the SWAT team standing in the plain. He smiled and quickly ran over to their position

"Great to see you're here already. Ehm, where are my men?"

"Your men sir?"

"The officers I handpicked for this mission…"

"Sir, you ordered their retreat yourself"

Kit and Walsh shared a look

"Jake, I'm afraid we have a mole"

"EVERYBODY, CHECK YOUR GEAR"

All around, every soldier checked his gun and equipement. Parts fell off, gun clips turned up empty and electronic equipement failed alltogether. Jacob was desperate…his own gun had a missing firing pin. Kit slid the action of his gun back and squeezed the trigger. A shot scared the animals of the forest.

"Well, that works" Kit's face turned red as he put his gun back away

"Yeah, you weren't supposed to have these…I got them from the depot yesterday. Wilsis said you couldn't carry a gun, but I figured I wasn't going to let you run around here unarmed"

"Every ounce of equipement in our plane is sabotaged…every gun jams or falls apart when…wait a minute" Jacob realised something…a detail from almost twenty minutes ago "Walsh, does your gun work?"

The cat slid the action backwards and pulled it off in the same movement. He threw the remains away "no, I don't think that'll fire properly"

"Who was sitting next to you in the plane?"

"Sargeant Reign, but he never touched the equipement"

"No, but he's the only one with a working gun: he shot at that sentry half an hour ago…SARGEANT REIGN, FRONT AND CENTER"

A dog ran forward from the formation and gave the group a short greeting. Jacob took his gun

"Where did you get this?"

"Just before the mission general Wilsis gave me this and told me to take good care of it…said it would most likely save my life…do you think…"

"Wilsis is our mole. Gather everyone around, we'll have to reconsider this mission"

The large group of soldiers and technicians gathered in a circle, sitting on one knee as they were taught in basic training. Jacob, Kit and Walsh stood in the centre, all three looking rather worried: Jacob because his men never arrived, Walsh because his own superior had betrayed him and Kit because he didn't see his brother in the group and he didn't know wether he could defend himself.

"Allright, everbody has probably noticed the equipement problem" some nodded and other shook their heads "We have confirmation that everybody in the first plane landed without functioning gun or rifle. The same may be true for the others, so beware. Now, under these conditions you will be forgiven if you wish to abort this mission. Anyone wishing to do so report to me, I'll radio for a pickup. That is all"

Jacob took a notebook to note those that wanted out. They all remained seated and the commander smiled. He walked to the SWAT team

"Do you have spare weapons"

They all reached in their vests and produced 12 small caliber handguns. Their leader stood up "SWAT members always carry three guns each, sir" He took his primary gun out of its holster and gave it to Jacob "it's a caliber 45…what's a commander without a decent gun?"

"Thanks, I won't forget this. LET'S GO FELLAS"

They stormed forwards and Kit had to run as fast as he could to reach the front again…were they forgetting he was the scout? The plain gave way to signs of civilisation…ruins of small houses came into view. Carefully the group explored the terrain, not passing one corner without suitable cover…especially the SWAT team excelled in this urban wasteland. Suddenly one of them motioned everyone to take cover. Kit sniffed the air and smelled the liquid explosive again. His stomach started protesting the second he smelled it. Jacob pulled him behind a corner

"What's the matter kid? You were standing in the open…pay attention!"

"Sorry. But I'm not feeling too good, we're getting closer"

"One minute" Jacob motioned a medic to come over. The hare cast a quick look around the corner, saw nothing and hurried across the small stretch of land between them. He opened his first aid kit

"What's the problem?"

"I think all medics received a special antidote for this mission in case that liquid had unexpected side effects…and one lighter dose, right?"

"We were told not to use that other one sir"

"Jake, what is that stuff…if you put me to sleep like last time…"

"Medic, the reason you can't use the other one is because it wouldn't have any effect on us. It has a different composition. Actually, it's for kids"

"I thought you couldn't make any for kids?"

"That was two years ago" He motioned the medic and rolled up Kit's sleeve "medical technology is a bit more advanced now"

"You're not afraid of needles are you?" the medic only got two stares back from both Kit and Jacob "hey, gimme a break: I was a pediatrician" he injected Kit with the antidote "now, if you start feeling dizzy, you tell me allright?"

"I'll drop you a line" Kit got to his feet, but doubled over and leaned on the wall next to him "I don't think that stuff is working"

The medic tapped him on the back "give it some time"

"When do you expect it to start working?"

"I'll drop you a line" He hurried back to the other side of the stretch

"Damn, everyone is a wiseguy in the army" Kit sat back down, Jacob just laughed

Chris and the other medic that let himself be called Lou were still in the forest, Chris leaning heavily on the bear. They had lost sight of the main group quite some time ago and had now no more idea of where they were going. Chris was a bit disoriented by the the irregular light and small detours they had to make everytime they spotted a hill. To make matters worse he noticed his watch was busted…it most likely happened during his fall. With only some faint tracks to go on, the two slowly made their way through the woods. But the tracks stopped, blurred by the mud the last rainstorm left. There was nothing more to do then guess where to go.

Fifteen minutes later they were still lost in the woods. Common sense started taking over and the two sat down on a treestump

"Some scout you turned out to be" Lou chuckled, more sarcastic than serious

"A scout without compass or maps is just a lightly armed and poorly trained soldier…all he has left then are his sharp eyes"

"And what are your hawkeyes telling you?"

Chris was about to insult back when he squinted "That we have an unknown contact at twelve o'clock" They ducked and Lou handed Chris his binoculars "Leopard, mid thirties I guess…seems unarmed. Not quite the type we're supposed to be looking out for" The cub gave the binoculars back and the bear looked himself. Chris noticed the position of the sun and where the binoculars were pointed "Lou, look out, you're flashing!"

"Damn, too late: he saw us"

The leopard ran to the lightflash. He saw two figures scrambling to their feet, one had to help the other one up. Without too much trouble the leopard caught up with Lou and Chris…he stopped and stared

"Kit?"

Chris stopped suddenly and turned around "You know my brother?"

The leopard frowned "I didn't know Kit had a brother" He started noting a few differences all of the sudden…the red sweater, blue eyes, a bit less muscular…this was indeed not Kit

"The name is Chris" the cub held out his paw that the leopard quickly shook "and you are?"

"Ehh…Richard…Richard Tusk"

"Are you feeling allright mr. Tusk? Any signs of dehydration, starvation or mistreatment?"

"Quite allright, thank you. We get enough to eat and drink and if we do what they say we're left alone"

"But you escaped anyway?"

"Wouldn't you?" Richard noticed the bandage around his ankle "broken foot?"

"Naw, tripped. But we kinda lost direction…these army watches are pieces of crap"

"Army? I noticed the red cross, but what is the army doing here?"

"You oughta know…same old: explosives on an island, the army doesn't control it so they come and take it with force. Plus the CSIA was supposed to be here to catch some criminal named Fang…we didn't even get a description. Anyway, you don't happen to know the fastest way to the plant do ya?"

Richard showed them a compass and gestured them to follow…he quickly reached under his jacket and put something away. Lou helped Chris up and both followed the leopard, unaware that he had his hand still in his jacket.

Kit was still not feeling too well and kept asking water. Jacob complied every time but the rest of the group was getting restless. They were eager to get this mess over with…a sick cub wasn't really helping them. The SWAT leader crouched next to Jacob

"We inspected every inch as you asked, but we didn't find anything"

"Now check in the ruins"

"Sir…"

"That's an order!"

"Why don't you just radio for an evac? These kids are slowing us down dammit!"

"That's because they are exactly that: kids. I couldn't in good conscience treat them like highly skilled soldiers, because they're not! They were dragged into this and are just as eager to get out of here as all of us"

"Then let them go! We have amphibian evacs 75 miles offshore…" Their discussion was interrupted by a panicking soldier. Jacob pulled him to the ground

"What do you think you're doing private?"

"Sir, there's movement in the ruins on the northwest side of the village…it's most likely the entrance to the processing plant"

Jacob looked at Kit and then at the SWAT leader. It was his call, now or never. He looked at the SWAT leader again, clearly asking his advice…he never had to abandon a man on the field before

"Lou and Chris will be here any minute, if you call now the evacs will be here in half an hour. Now or never Jake"

"Sorry about this kid"

"No problem Jake, just make sure I'll see you back in Port Green"

"That's a promise kid" He took his radio and set a frequency "Barkone to evac, Barkone to evac, request pickup of two, medical reasons"

"Roger Barkone…the kids want out huh?"

"Can you blame them?"

"Not really, we're on our way. ETA 35 minutes. Are they at the dropzone?"

"No, mission zone…give them some credit"

"Roger, evac out"

It was like lightning struck in the group when Jacob put his radio away. Everyone was looking at him, not only looking at him with more respect, but also waiting for him to give the order they were all waiting for. The SWAT team had their visors down, already in position at the entrance, their leader fed a new clip in his gun, the attack group was standing near the entrance, their rifles and machineguns ready. With a slow deliberate move, Jacob stood up and gave the final order. Immediately, the SWAT threw a smoke grenade in and stormed forwards, immediately followed by the attack and demolition group. Kit was sitting against a half destroyed wall, abandoned but darn glad that he had been. The only ones that were still standing around were the technicians. Kit couldn't help himself…

"Ey, fellas, don't you think you'd better start with that field radio already?"

The main technician looked in his direction, not accustomed to be getting direct orders like that…technicians usually got their way all the time. But he saw the cub and smiled. Why not listen to a superior for once?

"Yes sir! Allright guys, get the equipment to that clear stretch and get crackin'!"

"Woho, yer breakin' protocol here chief" one protested but they complied anyway. There was more to being a technician than being able to surrender to the enemy without any reprisals… The main technician gave Kit a wink and motioned him they'd be just a few yards away if he needed anything. But somehow Kit had everything knowing his brother would soon be here and they'd be seeing Cape Suzette soon. His mind trailed off to Baloo, how the bear had to be feeling right now. A strange feeling hit him, a feeling he had felt before. He wanted to be back home, not soon but right now, to tell what he was feeling. And then Rebecca…Miss. Cunningham…his surrogate mother, the mother he never had when he needed one. When he went to school for the first time, when he was sick, when he was scared at night or if he felt lonely…where was his mother? And why didn't he know of Chris' existance sooner? It would have made up for so much! -What was that sound?- His stomach felt a bit better, so he stood up. A cub hopped around the corner

"Chris, am I glad to see you!" Kit was genuinely relieved to see his brother alive and well "The evacs have been called and we'll…" Another figured appeared in view…a leopard Kit knew all too well "be out of here in 30 minutes" Kit considered making a run for the technicians…the leopard wrapped an arm around Chris, seemingly to give him some support. Kit noticed that the leopard had one hand in his jacket…something glistened that neither cub nor bear could see from their point of view. But the leopard smiled and Kit's face darkened. Chris was still smiling happily but noticed the sudden change of mood his brother went through.

"Kit, are you allright?"

"Yeah…or actually, no. That stuff is getting to my stomach again"

"Then we better go inside…it's a lot safer in there" the leopard said it in a strange tone that made both Chris and Lou think. But Chris was never the one to mistrust a person, not even after all he had seen

"Whatever you say Richard"

Kit squinted

"Richard? Richard *Tusk*? Man, that's sure a long time ago" Kit held out his paw, Richard took it and squeezed hard, almost crushing it

"It sure is…I've been hoping to see you again. You couldn't even grasp how many times I've thought of you and what I would do if I saw you again…so glad we finally meet again" Richard let go of Kit's paw…the leopard still had his iron grip. The four entered the processing plant. What they saw in there was beyond all belief. Whatever it looked like before, it would never look like it again: every ounce of equipement was either completely destroyed or professionally dismantled. In some rooms sirenes flared and all around red warning lights flashed. The leopard had problems hiding his rage…Kit knew they had to get rid of him as soon as possible, but how was he going to do that while he was holding Chris at gunpoint without the cub knowing it? There was only one way…-sorry about this Chris- Quickly Kit's foot shot out and kicked Chris in his sore ankle. He produced a little cry of pain and fell down. Lou reacted quickly and caught him before he hit the ground. Richard gritted his teeth as the bear set him against a wall. Both Kit and Lou crouched next to Chris while Richard kept some distance…the leopard regained his composure when he saw the armament of the three: Lou was unarmed, Chris didn't seem like the type to use a gun at all and Kit…hehe, no, Kit wouldn't point a gun at him either. But there was an entire army force in here…this was no time to get rash.

"What happened?" Lou had already opened his first aid kit and was taking some fresh bandages

"Don't know…almost felt like somebody kicked me" Chris gave his brother an accusing look

"Anything I can do to help?" Richard was a bit to eager to offer his assistance

"I can't order civilians, but please stay back…it's safer over where you are standing" Kit had to keep him away at all costs

"I don't mind a little danger" the leopard put a few steps in his direction, his hand in his jacket again

"Stay back Richard"

"C'mon, let me help" he set another few paces in their direction

"For the last time Richard, stay back" Kit was losing his patience, more serious measures would have to be used if he placed one more step in his direction

"Yeah, yeah"

"STAY BACK FANG!" in half a second Kit had taken his gun and pointed it at the leopard's chest. Fang was shocked to see the Kit he knew so well aiming a gun at him with so much anger in his eyes. Kit was holding his weapon with both hands and Fang knew it would be impossible to kick it away or draw one of his own…out of sheer necessity he took his place against a crate again. Chris didn't know what he was hearing

"Fang? But…he seemed like such a nice guy"

"He is, until you know him long enough" Kit answered without taking his eyes of the leopard he hated so much. But he knew very well Fang wouldn't stay away until the rest came to book him. Even now he could see the anger welling up in him and that was one time you don't want to mess with him…if he's angry or drunk, the facade of civilisation falls of and reveals what he really is: a relentless killer. A gun would only impress him for so long… "Lou, get help. I don't care who or where, but get it now"

Lou hurried to his feet and ran in a hallway in search of any help. His experience with criminals had taught him some psychology and this leopard was one deranged individual that wouldn't mind getting shot for some revenge. Help would have to be found soon…

Fang was getting a bit bored of this game. Did Kit really think he could boss him around like that with only a gun to back him up? What a fool…

"Kit…you dare to point a gun at me? HUH?"

This was turning ugly…Fang was mad and about to attack. Kit turned to his brother "Chris, RUN! I'll slow him down, but get out of here" Chris got to his feet and started something that looked like a run, but a serious limp kept him from getting any speed. Fang was almost amused to see Chris limping like that

"You know, I'd say 'let me go or I'll cripple your brother'…but it seems he has done my work already"

"Fang, I'm warning you! Don't make me…"

"MAKE YOU WHAT? SHOOT ME? You don't have the guts and you've proven that over and over…but hey, I'm not going to stop you. Kill me…"

"Fang, don't!"

"C'mon, show that you are worthy…show I've trained you well"

Kit started shuffling backwards, his eyes still locked with those of the leopard. It seemed that it only enraged him further

"DON'T YOU DARE WALK AWAY NOW! Don't you dare screw this one up. I want some honor from all the time I invested in you and I'll be damned if I'm gonna rot in hell"

Kit turned around and ran. Fang was furious…all he wanted was to get killed by his pupil and make sure his legacy would live on. But it seemed his pupil didn't have what it took to kill someone…it was time to terminate his long-term project and everyone that had made him go soft. His refining plant was lost, his processing plant destroyed and his protégé useless…it was time to cut all the connections and assume a new identity like he had done so many times before. He took his gun. A bullet missed Kit's head by half an inch, shards of metal flying of the wall it hit. The cub ducked to avoid further fire but kept running. Fang took a few deep breaths and aimed…he had been a sniper but his aim was always off when he was mad. In all serenity he waited until he was sure to hit and fired. Kit turned the corner, the bullet only tore his sleeve. The leopard quickly ran after Kit. The cub put his gun away to start one of his awesome dashes. Halfway the hall, it split in two and Kit could just see Chris turning in the left corridor. He had to lure Fang after him and not his brother, so he dropped his extra gunclips at the entrance of the right corridor. Even now he could here the leopard curse loudly behind him. After a few more dashes that had made him a competitor in the junior olympics next spring, Kit was stopped by a wall of crates. There were no other turns, no holes to hide, no airvents to crawl in…he was trapped. Fang appeared into view and Kit desperately tried to climb the crates. Unfortunately they were stacked to the ceiling, and the only hole big enough to crawl through was out of his reach. Fang stopped running, Kit stood still.

"Turn around"

Kit turned and faced Fang. The leopard was still holding the gun, the firing pin back, ready to fire. The model of gun was familiar to Kit, but he wasn't going to study the bullet up close and personal. Fang read his thoughts

"You're right, this is a Smeth and Wisson army issue. Yes, it is loaded with scatterbullets and yes, I got it from Wilsis. I must say this hunt was worth it…I lost my business, but what do I care? AT LEAST I'LL HAVE MY REVENGE. DIE!"

Kit quickly reached for his gun. He turned slightly to reach it…at almost the same time, the firing pin of Fang's gun hurled forward and struck the bullet. In a puff of smoke and fire, Fang's gun delivered its lethal contents. The bullet flew through the air and Kit ran out of luck. As he was getting his gun out of its holster, the bullet struck him. The cub cried in pain and staggered back against the crates, sending half of them to the ground on the other side. His hand shot out to the painful spot…he felt something wet and doubled over. Grunting in pain he lay on the ground, Fang laughed at the scene and put his gun away again. Seemingly caring, he set the cub against a crate and took his hand. He put it on a spot and pushed

"Keep your hand here, it'll slow the bleeding" he almost sounded sincere but Kit couldn't think straight and complied. The pain increased but the bleeding slowed indeed "well, that had to hurt. You see, all of this wouldn't have happened if you had just shot me two minutes ago. It seems you won't be alive for much longer so I can tell you everything now about…"

"What?!" Kit's voice was weak and husky. He didn't know much of anatomy or shotwounds, but was he really hit that bad? Once again Fang laughed

"First of all I was shooting with scatterbullets…REAL ugly things, they explode once they hit anything and send shrapnel all through the victim. Let's be realistic allright? You got hit in the chest, between the ribs. You were lucky you were turned or your hart would have been hit…but look at the blood Kit" Fang forced Kit's hand up "It's turning darker by the second…soon it will be almost black. That means your liver is hit. I give you about twenty minutes before you bleed to death"

"Unless someone stops the bleeding before that, right?"

"I said, let's be realistic. It's natural you're afraid of dying Kit, but it's not so bad. If it can be of comfort, your brother will be around to join you in hell soon enough"

Even though Kit could hardly lift his arms, during Fang's ramble he had taken his gun again. Once he started threathening his brother Kit pointed the gun at him again. Bored, Fang disarmed him in one move and threw the gun away

"Let's not do that again allright? You wouldn't have shot me anyway. All this time I teach you everything you need to know to kill and when I present a victim on a silver plate you screw up! You're just like your brother: you're afraid to use guns"

"That sentry…it wasn't a guard: it was your tracker!" suddenly it all made sense to Kit

"Congratulations" Fang clapped his hands "but it seems the hunter has once again triumphed over his prey. Wilsis was so glad to cooperate when I asked him to send the witness to my island. When he told me it was a cub I KNEW it was you. So I set up this little play…I hope you liked it. But I'm affraid it's time for the deus ex machina…adios, the fat lady is about to sing"

Fang took his gun again and strangely enough Kit looked forward to the shot that would quickly end his suffering. Humming a cheerful tune Fang pressed the barrel of his caliber 45 against Kit's head. Chris had been in hiding all this time. He heard the shot but couldn't do anything because of the wall of crates ahead of him. When half of them came down he climbed over the stack and hid out of Fang's sight…not even Kit had seen him. While the leopard was rambling he set his radio to emit a steady homing signal. When he turned back to face victim and assailant he saw the situation getting out of hand. As fast as he could he stood up and ran. Fang's finger squeezed the trigger, the firing pin shot forward once again…

"NO!"

It came out of nowhere, Chris appeared into view and squeezed himself between the gun and his brother's head. The shot fired but was stopped at point blank range from the barrel. Chris was hit squarely in the chest and slumped to the floor. Fang set him against a crate too, not at all surprised to see him "Two cloudkickers in one day! What a catch!"

Chris kept both his arms across his chest, tears streaming down his face. Fang crouched next to him and examined his wounds. He whistled

"Incredible…how many lives do you have left? You were supposed to be dead already"

Chris was enraged. He had always been the gullible fool and now it had exploded in his face. First Fang played him like a sucker, then he threathened to cripple him and now he had tried to kill him. Chris had never lost his temper before, but now…without thinking he spit in Fang's face. The leopard wiped it off and stood up

"Touché. I think I underestimated you…well, it's been fun but I have to get going…enjoy your last moments together" this said Fang turned around and walked away. A wicked grin appeared on his face and his hand reached in his jacket yet again. Why would he let two witnesses live, despite his promise? A metallic click behind him made the leopard stop dead in his tracks. Kit no longer had his gun…who was about to shoot? He turned around, pulling his gun in the same motion. A gun barked and hurled its contents away. Fang let out a little scream when the lead object hit him in the shoulder. The shrapnel did the rest, rendering his right arm completely useless. He dropped his gun and watched in shock at the half-dead, blue-eyed cub holding a gun with smoking barrel. Chris first shot had just saved two lives…Fang turned around and ran, Chris dropped his weapon with a tired expression on his face

"I got him…at least he has something to remember us by now"

"Dammit Chris, why did you interfere?"

"Hey, no matter how this turns out, I had the time of my life since I met you" he tried to move but wisely decided to sit still when he felt the burn "man, I'm going to be sore tomorrow"

"No regrets?"

"No regrets"

They sat in silence for a moment, Kit saw his brother turning pale and the blood from his wound almost go black. A shrike in lungs made him remember his own condition. Suddenly it felt like all the air got sucked out of him and he tried a deep breath. His lungs decided otherwise and Kit breathed rapid, shallow breaths.

"Hey, keep breathing bro"

"It hurts too bad"

"I feel like I've just been hit by a truck, but you don't hear me complaining do you?" somehow, the conversation was funny to hear…they both had very little voice left and they tried to outwhisper eachother "at least my legs don't hurt…as a matter of fact…" Chris tried to move his legs but with little result "dammit, Kit, can you still feel your legs?"

Kit panicked a bit now…he hadn't really tried to move them since that bullet hit him. He too had no result when he tried to move them

"Well, it seems that soldier was speaking the truth"

"Yeah…do you think they have any cool models in weelchairs?"

"Sure hope so…'cause I'm not giving up track and field"

Chris closed his eyes and coughed up some blood. His condition was rapidly deteriorating, and help had better come soon. Kit thought of everything at the same time -what if Fang got the drop on them? What if they don't know where we are? What if they don't even care what happened to us? Ohmigod, what if they come too late…there's so much more I want to say to Baloo, so much more I want to do with Chris-

"Hey, bro, don't even think that" Chris was reading Kit's thoughts "this is just like the second day, isn't it? Just a bit more serious and no Seaduck to pick us up. Reminds me" Chris reached in his sweater with difficulty and handed Kit a small box. It looked like a regular cigar box and Kit put it away with half a smile on his face

"Thanks, but I don't smoke"

"Just open it later…agh" Chris grabbed his chest and closed his eyes again

"Stay with me Chris"

"Why? Are you…going anywhere?" the situation was now indeed getting very bad. Kit could hardly get any air and Chris was most likely hit in the hart…Kit knew it was only a matter of time, but banned the thought out of his head. -medical science is a lot further today, they can fix him…I hope-

Near the entrance of the storage room, a figure appeared. It almost looked as if it was searching. The figure looked down, picked something up and ran to the storage room. Kit tried his best to make out the blurred shape in front of him…it was clearly a soldier. He approached rapidly and suddenly stopped, threw down whatever he had picked up and ran back to the corridor.

"MEDIC! TWO MEN DOWN, CODE RED"

The soldier ran back to the kids. Nearing them he crouched, skidding towards them. Only now Kit recognised him…it was Walsh, but looking more concerned than ever

"I should've given you those vests" he turned his head again "MEDIC, THIS IS SERIOUS DAMMIT!"

"Maybe you should try a trumpet solo"

"Kid, I mean this the nicest way possible: shut up"

Several other figures appeared at the entrance. Two were carrying something, all were running. Jacob was the first to reach them, looking upset and with good reason. Lou and Reed (only now Kit noticed the hare's nametag) followed. Lou concerned himself with Chris, Reed took Kit under his care. To have more room they dragged the kids to different corners. Kit kept his eyes on Chris who had stopped breathing steadily a few moments before Walsh arrived. Reed blocked his view…the hare lay him down on the ground and cut his sweater open

"Hey, I've worn this for three years" Kit protested weakly

"You'll thank me when you see the sun rise" Reed started cutting Kit's shirt too, but just high enough to see the wound clearly. He frowned in concern by the mere sight of it

"So, doc, what's the verdict?"

"Depends on what you're gonna tell me next…what do you feel?"

"Feel like a vacuum cleaner sucked the air out of my lungs, don't feel my legs and my stomach still hurts"

"Great" Reed murmured under his breath

"Fang said something about my liver…don't tell me he was right"

Reed took a look at the blackened blood…he had seen bad cases but something like this should've killed someone that young already. Unfortunately the liver thing was most likely true… He turned around to meet the concerned gaze of his colleague. The bear crouched next to him but kept his voice soft enough to keep Kit from understanding a word

"Lou, tell me you have better news than me" the bear's face saddened

"By the time I got to him he was already unconcious…his breathing was irregular, almost no pulse and blood that was almost black. He was terminal…all I could to was make it painless"

"Don't tel me he…"

"I'm sorry" with tears in his eyes the bear took Reed's hand and placed something in it. The hare felt something cold and hard…Chris' tags.

Wash noticed what was going on: he could read lips and decided to distract Kit a little before he started to ask too many questions "Hey kid, ya thirsty?"

Both Lou and Reed appreciated his gesture and continued their conversation "I'm not sure wether I can pull this one through"

"Same symptoms?"

"Yeah, but he can still breathe a little and he's keeping his bodytemperature"

"Good, that means his hart isn't hit"

"His lungs are though…has he got a chance?"

"Worth a try, isn't it?" Lou turned to Kit "hey buddy, can you hear me?" he shone a small light in his eyes "guess you can…listen, I'll do anything to get you to a hospital but you have to do me a favor: say as little as possible and keep breathing"

Rain nor snow, storm nor blizzard, nothing would have stopped Baloo from flying to Port Green…unfortunately flying without a navigator would. Reading maps wasn't his forte and Port Green was off his normal routes. Luckily Rudder knew how to reach the city without much difficulty, having travelled the entire globe at least once. There was one catch: the black bear insisted he flew them there to make up for the trouble he had partially gotten them in and the accusations at their adress. Offcourse, Baloo had let the bear have his half an hour of redemption, but he had taken the controls after that anyway. Despite Rudder's protest he was flying the plane in. To Rebecca they seemed like the longest six hours in his entire life…Molly was the joy of her life, the reason she got up every day and not a single moment went by without her knowing how happy she was to have a child to love. She knew very well how Baloo had to be feeling, so she didn't protest when he practically yanked the controls out of Rudder's hands. The city drew closer, Rudder took the microphone to call in. After the usual codes and procedures, another voice cut in

"Ehh…Air Freedom? May we assume the legal parents of Kit and Chris are with you?"

"Identify yourself" Rudder didn't take kindly to someone that interrupted his radio messages

"Jacob Barkone"

"Ow, sorry about that Jake, what good news?"

"Have you landed yet?"

"No, but"

"You have someone there that can do it for you? It's about the kids…"

Hell froze over, the sky collapsed and stars fell from the heavens to be exinguished forever in the unmeasurable depths of the freezing oceans. This was the unthinkable that happened, something that every parent kept from happening because they are just that: parents. Baloo felt like a total misfit, a washout even when he heard his kids were in the hospital.

Unfortunately Rudder's radio battery died on him before Jacob could tell him what had happened exactly. So it was with a heavy hart, a glimmer of hope and Rebecca by his side that Baloo entered the hospital and went straight for the pediatrics. The nurse gave him a friendly smile, used to comforting both kids and parents when they came in

"May I help you?"

"I ehhh…I mean my kids ehhh…"

"It's quite allright sir, this is a hospital…nobody will blame you if your kids are here. Would you be so kind to tell me their names?"

Baloo felt at least a bit reassured. Not that he had regained his cool, but the initial anxiety was gone

"Kit and Chris Cloudkicker…at least I assume that's the name they used to identify themselves"

"Hold on a second sir" the nurse checked a few papers, frowned and looked at her clipboard "I'm sorry sir, there is nobody in this hospital by that name"

"Try Windward" Baloo said hopefully…the nurse shook her head again

"I'm sorry sir, I can't find anybody by that name. It would help if you told me when they were brought in"

"We just flew in…we came as soon as we heard but we don't know when they were actually taken here" Rebecca chimed in, reading the obvious desperate look on Baloo's face. She felt sorry in his place: a father for six hours and already having to go through this

"Can you give me a description? There is obviously some mixup"

"Medium brown bearcubs, one will most likely be wearing a red sweater…got blue eyes, so you'd recognise him in a crowd of a million, the other one will probably wear a green sweater and a baseball cap, they're both 12, almost 13…"

The nurse listened in astonishement, her face saddening as the reality started to catch up with her. These things always seemed to happen on her shift

"You're the father of little John Doe? Oh my god…follow me please" the nurse dropped everything she was carrying and led the two now panicking parents across the hospital. Corridor after corridor, staircase after staircase…Baloo couldn't help wondering how big this place really was. He didn't like the way that nurse had reacted when he gave that description…things had to be terribly wrong.

Baloo's worst fears were confirmed when they walked in the intensive care unit. The nurse pointed to a waitingroom. Two dogs were already present: one in uniform, the other one in army clothes…he looked like he just stepped out of a warzone: his clothes were a bit torn, mud still on his face.

"I'll get the doctor right away" the nurse closed the door and Baloo and Rebecca scanned the room, only to meet the eyes of the dogs. The one in uniform stood up

"Mr. Baloo I presume?"

"Presume whatever ya want, what are my kids doing here and who are you?" Baloo forgot all courtesy when Kit and Chris were involved

"I can understand your rage, I feel responsible for this situation. The name is Jerry O'Connor…Rudder left your children with me. I did everything I could to keep them out of harm's way, but Kit told me things that had to be put in writing. Standard procedure is that we alert General Wilsis when such a major case comes up, but we never intended this to happen"

"Never intended WHAT to happen?"

"Wilsis insisted we took them to the mission zone" the other dog answered as Jerry sat down again. For some reason, Jacob didn't raise his head or look Baloo in the eyes "I assure you, they were never more than 30 feet away from me. But our objective was a refining plant that produced a strange liquid explosive. Kit was affected by the fumes and I had to leave him behind in the knowledge that his brother and a medic would show up soon. He wasn't alone: several technicians were seting up a field radio…but when Chris and Lou our medic showed up they weren't alone either. Lou testified that they had met a leopard in the woods. Kit must have recognised Fang the instant he saw him and deperately tried to escape with his brother while Lou went for help…but Fang got the drop on them anyway…"

Rebecca sat down, not knowing wether her legs could carry her anymore. This was more serious than she had expected, Baloo was about to burst and there was nothing they could do anymore. There was something she had to know

"How serious?"

The door opened, a doctor walked in. Seeing the scene in front of him he figured they knew already…with a heavy hart he started the speech he had rehearsed all the way in

"I assume you know what happened already…now, by the time the cub came in his condition was critical. We prepped him for surgery immediately and I'm afraid he's still there at this time. We have our finest surgeons working on him and there's about 65 percent chance he'll survive"

"65 PERCENT?" Baloo could no longer hold himself

"Those are quite good odds considering his condition sir. When he came in we diagnosed a stomachperforation, livertrauma and a pierced left lung…at least, those were the most serious of injuries. If he survives the surgery he won't be off the hook until quite some time later. But we have a highly skilled staff, he'll be allright"

"Allright, allright…you keep talking about one cub, but what about the other?"

"I'm afraid I must ask you to follow me" Baloo's eyes widened, Rebecca's filled with tears "and identify him"

"I…Identify him?" Rebecca stammered, knowing all too well what that meant

"One of the two children was dead by the time he got here…there was nothing we could do, I'm sorry" the doctor placed his hand on Baloo's shoulder and led him outside. Jerry tried to calm Rebecca down with little success. It could have been ten minutes, it could have been ten hours…but it seemed like an eternity before Baloo walked back in, tears streaming down his face. Without saying a word, he stumbled forward, sought support against a wall and collapsed, sliding down the wall to the ground…crying. Long moments passed before anyone dared to say anything. Finally, it was Baloo that spoke

"Beckers…it…it was…IT WAS CHRIS…it was awful. The smell in there, knowing that one of my kids was down there…I hoped there was some kind of mistake…that they were hiding behind the couch back home or something ya know…and they…they pulled that sheet away, but I didn't recognise him…I wanted to, but Kit and Chris look so alike …and then they opened his eyes…those brilliant blue eyes so full with joy when I last saw him…they were staring at me and I stared back, not knowing how to move, how to act or even how to breathe…and then it hit me he was dead. A father for six hours and I lost a child…I don't deserve to be one"

"Baloo, as bad as this is, it isn't your fault" Rebecca thought she at least owed that much of consolation to the bear "and don't forget Kit is still alive. He deserves a father, especially now. This is going to be rough on him too: he lost his only living relative, his twinbrother no less. I'm not going to see you succumb to self-pity while he's fighting for his life"

"Guess yer right Beckers…gotta be there when he needs me. I gotta be there when he opens his eyes again, even if only to see him smile and call me 'papa bear'"

The door opened again, the same doctor entered once again, his face set grim. First he had to be the messenger of the devil and now he had to bring even more bad news… Baloo was still sitting on the floor but shot up, only to sit down when he saw the doctor's face

"He's not going to make it, is he?"

"He lost a lot of blood and due to the liver injuries he'll die unless we find a suitable donor…this should normally be a matter of routine, but Kit has AB- which is quite rare"

"How rare?"

"1 percent of the world population…I thought I'd check with his father and hope…"

"Fat chance doc: I'm only his adoptive father…and it seems you found another way to rub it in my face"

"Baloo" a detail from the bear's medical examination came to Rebecca's mind "I always said you were a rare case…you have AB-"

"Doc, how long to sterilise a needle?"

"Mr. Baloo, are there any known diseases in your family? Any genetic deficiencies?"

"Gimme some credit"

"Follow me please"

After a clasp of Rebecca on his shoulder Baloo quickly followed the doctor, eager to make a contribution to his son's survival. Time can run and time can crawl. But when you're waiting for something it usually crawls. To get her mind at least a bit off all the bad news, Rebecca turned to Jerry.

"How do you know Kit?"

The dog looked at her "We met about two and a half years ago…and I'm glad I did or I wouldn't be sitting here right now. But it wasn't until yesterday he told me about his past"

"There are parts he won't even tell us"

"Like this part, I'm sure. I just want you to know he's not necessarely a bad kid, he just had a lot of bad influences in his life"

"In all my years as an agent I never met someone quite like him" Jacob finally dared to lift his head "I'm pretty sure all of this could have been avoided…if I only had given my vest to Kit or Chris, all this wouldn't have happened. And what bothers me most is that Fang just slipped through our hands" Jacob ran his fingers over his vest and once again felt the hole that bullet had made. He would have been glad to get hit in the kids place, but he just HAD to keep his own vest -stupid Jake, STUPID! And you're supposed to be smartest of the three!-

"The way I see it" Rebecca tried "if Kit and Chris had worn vests, Fang would've shot them in the head. Some things are meant to be I guess, no matter how cruel they are"

Baloo stumbled in again, holding his arm, a tired expression on his face. He sat down without actually looking if someone was already sitting there and slumped back in his chair, exhausted

"I'm tellin' ya Beckers, they sucked enough outta me to feed an army of vampires…I'm supposta watch out for 'temporary hypohemia' or sumthing like that. All this medical mumbo-jumbo…"

"How is Kit doing?" Rebecca said hopefully

"Ya think they'd just let me into the operating room? I got to see him from behind glass…just couldn't look longer than three seconds. He's still in surgery and all the way back I could only think about one thing: what if he wakes up while they're still working on him? I won't be there to calm him down or to stop him from getting hurt again. And I swear Beckers, I'll never let that kid get hurt again"

"I know what you mean" Jacob stared at the floor again "I have…had kids myself"

"Had?"

"When I came back from Carmalina I called my Suzie. Someone I never heard of picked up and when I asked for Suzie he wanted to know why I wanted to talk to his wife…" Rebecca bit her lip when Jacob explained "at least she had the decency to send me the divorce papers yesterday"

A knock on the door…for the first time someone knocked. Maybe it was a good sign, maybe they just wanted to spare them the surprise of someone storming in and bringing bad news. The door opened slowly, the nurse of the pediatrics department stuck her head throught the crack.

"I think I have news that will interest you all…the boy is out of surgery, we're transferring him to a room in the ICU as we speak"

"What room?" Baloo shot up

"Please, he can't receive visitors"

"Not even his parents?" Rebecca stood up too

"I'm sorry"

"Not even for one lousy minute? Who do you think the kid wants with him when he wakes up huh? Or are you going to tell him about Chris?"

The nurse seemed to weigh off the pro's and con's and quickly decided she was no match for the love and care of a mother and father

"Guess I can bend the rules a little…allright, follow me, parents only"

Rebecca decided she was sort of Kit's mother and followed Baloo out. The hallway the nurse led them through symbolised Baloo's worst nightmares. Every now and then a door stood open, revealing persons on respirators or other types of machines to keep them alive. Family sat around, waiting and hoping for that person to open his eyes and say something. The hallway had that typical hospital smell. Baloo's hart skipped a beat when the nurse stopped by a door across the doctor's ready room…he took a deep breath and took the doorknob in hand. Both the nurse and Rebecca stopped him just before he entered

"Mr. Baloo…I think you better prepare for what you are about to see first. Most parents, especially new ones, are shocked for life by going in a room like this unprepared. I think it would help if I sketch the situation first: Kit is currently recovering from his surgery, that means he's under heavy medication. He's in a sort of sleep now and when he wakes up he'll most likely be in an ehmm…'altered state' for some time. If you plan on going in there and see your child wildly enthousiastic because you are finally there I'm afraid I must disappoint you. Don't expect any deep conversations either. The beeping you'll hear is a hartmonitor, we attached some electrodes under the bandages, so don't be alarmed by the wires. The oxygen mask is necessary for the first couple of days, so please don't remove it, no matter how hard he'll plead. The IV units in his right arm are nutrition and antibiotics, the ones in his left arm are your blood and sedatives. We had to make sure he wouldn't pull them out so we had to tie his arms to the bed. Don't expect him to wake up any time soon but if he does…keep the talk to a minimum, you don't want to tire him out. Strength!"

With the explanation of the nurse in mind, Baloo opened the door and braced himself. Rebecca took his arm and led him in. Inside the dimly lit room lay a small, frail figure in an oversized bed, not moving or even stirring. The only thing that convinced Baloo that he was still alive was the soft, steady beeping of the hartmonitor and the hissing of the oxygen. How Baloo wanted to hold him now, but as he got closer the bear feared Kit might break by merely looking at him. It almost looked like Kit was sleeping, but a sad expressing marked his face. Tears streamed down both Baloo's and Rebecca's face when they saw him like this. Without saying a word, they took a chair and sat down next to his bed. Rebecca tenderly took his hand in hers…

Night had fallen over Port Green and the city resumed its organised chaos. Patrols and entire motorised squads manned the streets in search of thieves and murderers…lowlifes that hadn't even been in the city for over a year. Most had migrated to other cities, some had found refuge in The Greenland. None of the honest citizens could escape the patrols as their paths changed daily. A figure in raincoat, a bulldog, strolled around the streets, every now and then checking his watch. So far, no patrol had disturbed him…just like he had planned. Someone called him from an alley and the bulldog disappeared in the shadows to meet his shady compatriot

"Wilsis…" the leopard was out of breath, a bloodstained bandage around his shoulder "the deal went bad. Our operation on Carmalina is gone"

The bulldog's fist shot out and hit the leopard squarely on the nose

"Idiot! You said you would dispose of the witness!"

"I did!" the leopard protested, holding his bleeding nose in hand

"We have a survivor, incompetent carcasfeeder! You killed the wrong one! He's in the hospital as we speak"

"I'll dispose of him right away"

"You'll do nothing of the sort! I want you out of the city and undercover at our fallback adress. I'll contact you when I need you again…if ever, you screwup! Now get out of my sight before the patrol returns and they figure out who really is the head of the crime syndicate"

With an agility betraying his current state, the leopard leapt through the alley, never to set foot in Port Green again. The bulldog smiled for good riddance. Without a second thought or even any remorse, he turned the corner and took the detonator out of his pocket. Seconds later an explosion scared the city and a huge fireball reached for the skies…the uninhabited ally was professionally demolished into rubble. The bulldog threw his raincoat on the fire to destroy all evidence. The flames danced around the obsidian sky like a horde of demons…

"Pa…Papa Bear?" It was the first thing Kit had said ever since Baloo and Rebecca entered his room. His voice was still weak, changed somehow and almost inaudible because of the oxygen mask that covered his nose and mouth. Baloo and Rebecca had waited patiently by his side and the grey bear came a bit closer to speak

"I'm here for ya Kit, don't worry"

Kit had his eyes still closed, but vaguely recognised the voice. A smile appeared on his face

"Hi Papa Bear" he turned his head without opening his eyes "Hi Momma Bear" Rebecca was a bit taken by Kit's new nickname for her, but she suddenly realised he was probably reliving a part of his past "Fuzzy Bear is awake…my side hurts mom…"

Rebecca wiped away a tear and got closer to speak too

"It's allright Kit, we'll make it go away"

"Would you tell me a bedtime story mom? Please…"

Baloo smiled, happy to see his child act like a child for once and giving more than one sign of life. Rebecca started telling the story she had told to Molly so many times before, of the Prince in that country far, far away, the Princess and the fairies. Kit smiled happily and slowly opened an eye, wanting to look at his mother once again. A shock of realisation came to him when he recognised Rebecca and Baloo

"Miss. Cunningham?"

"Yes Kit?" Rebecca broke off her story

"What are you doin' here…I thought I heard…W…where am I…what have I said?"

"Nothing embarassing Li'l Britches…just that you called Beckers 'Momma Bear' and yourself 'Fuzzy Bear'…oh yeah, and you asked for a bedtime story"

"Man…how embarassing…t'is those damn drugs…guess I'm in trouble now huh?"

"Oh yeah, we're going to spoil you silly until you get better…but when you stop calling me Papa Bear, you're in serious trouble: I went through enough to make it official"

"Baloo, I'm damaged merchandise…you don't wanna adopt me…take Chris an' gimme up to the orphanage…where is Chris anyways? Is he in another room?"

"Kit…" Baloo sighed…how was he going to explain this? "Let me start off by saying I'd have adopted you no matter what. I love you Kit…but you were extremely lucky…and,well…Chris wasn't"

Kit's eyes widened in shock

"NO! YOU'RE LYING!" Kit tried to yell as hard as he could, but he only produced a high pitched squeek "LEMME GO SEE HIM" he tried to get out of bed, but failed to move his legs or even to sit up. Groaning he struggled against the bonds that kept his arms in place. With tears in her eyes Rebecca ran outside to get a doctor while Baloo tried to calm Kit down to the best of his ability

"Easy kiddo, this won't do Chris any good"

"LEMME GO I TELL YOU! LEMME GO!"

"Kit, please…"

"Untie me! UNTIE ME DAMMIT!"

"I can't do that"

"UNTIE ME AND LET ME GO SEE CHRIS!"

"HE'S GONE! LET IT GO!"

"NO!"

"LET IT GO! LET IT…Let it go Kit"

A doctor stormed in and injected a clear liquid into Kit's blood supply. The boy's eyes rolled up and he collapsed, softly crying. With a sad look in Baloo's direction the doctor disappeared again. Rebecca had regained her posture and came back in. Baloo was keeping Kit in a gentle hug and Rebecca joined. Softly crying, Kit was now only capable of whispering

"I can't believe he's gone…it can't be"

"Shhh, it's allright Kit, Papa Bear will always be by your side"

"And so will Momma Bear"

In this loving embrace, the sleep of comfort finally came to the troubled cub in an attempt to wash away his pain and sorrow…

THE END

As you can see, there are many loose ends. Be on the lookout for Clouded Day…it will be set in the aftermath of this story and deals with the tough times that are yet to come for the new father…