Written by: Marc

Disclaimer: Kit Cloudkicker, Baloo,WildCat, Molly Cunningham, Rebecca Cunningham, Don Karnage and other characters are copyright 1990/1991 Walt Disney Company and are being used without premission. The writer has made sure that no money was made in the production of this fanfic and all material is used with the upmost affection and respect to the Walt Disney Company and the Tale Spin Team.

PART V

"What was that!" Rebecca cried as the trio heard the bullet crashing through the Higher for Hire window. They all ran outside the back door to find nothing, but shattered glass lying on the ground. Baloo's eyelids twitched thoughtfully, as he bent over taking a piece of glass in his hand and turning it over and over.

"Hey, I don't get it." He mumbled to himself.

Kurlander shook his head, "Not surprising. I should hope that this isn't a typical occurrence here, Rebecca, or I should wonder how my cargo was never damaged."

Rebecca was barely listening as she put her hands over eyes to shield the sun, searching beyond the streets, "No, of course it's not, Mr. Kurlander. . . Oh, where is Kit? You don't mind waiting a few minutes do you, Mr. Kurlander. I'm starting to worry."

Mr. Kurlander eyed her and sighed, "One would think you were the boy's mother. That's all right. I do have a phone call to make, that is, if I may?"

"Sure." Rebecca replied as she reluctantly followed Baloo and Kurlander inside. Baloo settled in his chair, and Rebecca at her desk, plopping the phone in Kurlander's direction. The plump beaver began to dial, then paused staring at Baloo and Rebecca eagerly.

"Come on, Beckers, looks like this is a private call." Baloo griped as he took Rebecca by the hand into the kitchen.

Baloo poured a cup of steaming tea, adding packet after packet of packaged sugar before sitting at the table swirling the tan liquid with his spoon creating a small whirlpool. While Kurlander spoke on the phone, watched him unable to decipher his softly spoken words.

"If that kid isn't here soon, I'm really gonna. . ." Baloo began

"I'm worried, Baloo, " Rebecca interrupted, "What if Dr. Hofka was right, and something happened."

Baloo dropped his spoon baffled, "You can't listen to that fella, Beckers, just cause he knew a few stories 'bout your husband. 'Sides you never found anything that had to with that laser so it's all just a mistake or some kinda scam."

"It's just that if anything happened to Kit because of this," she whimpered, "I'd always going to think it was my fault."

"Well. . ." Baloo  sniffed, "I'm gonna hafta leave soon with or without the kid probably once ol' rudder tail stops yappin' on the phone. Just hope ol' moneybags didn't reverse the charges. You wanna come, boss lady?"

She looked away despondently, resting against the wooden doorframe, "I'll wait for Kit." 

"Suit yourself." Baloo shrugged. The big bear also wanted to stay, as he was extremely concerned for the young cub, but Baloo tried to act to calm for Rebecca who seemed to be so nervous.

They heard Mr. Kurlander slam the phone done, and Rebecca saw him pause to rub his forehead.

"Is there something wrong, Mr. Kurlander?" Rebecca inquired as she and Baloo walked towards him.

A face of weariness had usurped the typically jovial expression of Mr. Kurlander. He still had his hand on the top of his head. "I am so sorry, you two, but I just called the distributor to let him know we were running a little late, and, well, he said he won't bet ready for us for a couple of hours or so."

"So we'd better wait around here for awhile, huh?" Baloo said, happy he could stay for Kit to come back.

As the group of business partners waited, Baloo went out to work with Wildcat on the Seaduck's myriad of little bumps and scrapes, while Rebecca conversed with Kurlander in her office.

"So Molly is doing well since her father passed?" Kurlander asked her.

"Yes, very well." Rebecca breathed deeply, "She has lots of distractions with school and with this business. It's fun for her."

Kurlander smiled, "Yes, I can imagine."

"Rebecca!" Baloo cried out suddenly.

And as the two turned their heads towards the door, the bumbling Dr. Hofka galloped inside nearly tripping and crashing violently against a large filing cabinet.

"Doctor, what are you doing here?" Rebecca demanded, as she stood up and stomped her foot.

"That's what I'd like to know." Kurlander muttered under his breath. The doctor was panting heavily as he bent over placing his hands on his knees, "You must come with me. They have kidnapped your friend Kit Cloudkicker!"

Kit leaned his back against the door inside the car so that he would be able to face his captive who was steering with one hand and holding the gun in the other, the sun reflecting off of it which made Kit squint slightly.

"Who are you?" Kit asked softly, clutching his knees., "Why are you doing this?"

The fox looked at him and laughed at him contemptuously, "Kid I'm nothing but a spoke on the wheel. You don't need to know who I am. Don' t worry kid, if you're cooperative, the government should give you some protection."

"The government!" Kit repeated loudly in astonishment, "You work for the..."

"That's right,kid," he nodded, "Must blow your mind, huh?"

"But you kidnapped me!" Kit exclaimed.

"All right we're here, kid," Muldrake sighed as he grabbed Kit roughly by the collar and dragged him out the door, "Lemme tell ya, when it comes to money and power, rules don't much to anybody."

"That's not right," Kit said coldly, squirming in Muldrake's firm group, "You can change that. . .if you let me go."

The fox started laughing, "Believe me kid, if I let you go now you'd end up dead before any good could come out of this."

Kit watched the ground forlornly. Then looking ahead he saw a giant a cargo plane being loaded on the desolate dock made of iron and freshly laid tar. There was not a soul around besides those who were working on the plane. Muldrake quickly approached an old, graying Tiger who avoided making eye contact with Kit who had given up any resistance.

"Where do you want him, sir?" Muldrake asked him.

"Put him on the plane," the tiger said, "I'll talk with him there."

Muldrake led Kit into the cargo hold of the giant aircraft. There was a giant mass of some object covered in a giant tan sheet which occupied most of the space, and shafts of sharp metal rods projected from several directions creating this image in Kit's mind of a sophisticated torture device they were sure to use on him. They placed him on a plastic chair not bothering to tie his hands. The old tiger sat down in front of him, as the cargo door began to close slowly dimming the room until it was pitch black. Kit waited, for the tiger to turn on a light or speak, yet he did nothing. The young cub was getting nervous when he felt the plane begin to move, and he knew they were taking off. Apparently satisfied that the plane was now moving, there was quick click and a dim light was turned on above them that Kit that had failed to notice.

"Well, Mr. Cloudkicker, you have put us on quite a chase." The tiger said.

"Well, you've put up a quite a case of kidnapping!" Kit snarled back, "You better let me out of here. . ."

"In good time," the tiger nodded intensely, "Now the weapon, Kit. How do we fix the weapon?"

"I don't know!" Kit cried, "I'm just a kid, I swear I don't anything about lasers or the atmosphere or whatever."

"Surely you must." The tiger grinned, "Well, I shall not fight with you. It's not worth my time. In a couple of minutes by friend from the cockpit will come with an analysis of your fingerprints and those we found on the letter. If they match, then you'll either help us or we'll have to kill you."

"And what if they don't match. . ."

The tiger stood up and rubbed his neck, "Why, we should still have to kill you."

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"Hurry up, Rebecca!" Baloo cried as he and the doctor leapt into the Seaduck, and the big bear began to warm her up.

"Please, Mr. Kurlander you should stay here," Rebecca pleaded as she held the beaver's hand trying to hold him back.

He was persistent though, dragging Rebecca with him, hardly aware of the extra weight, "Nonsense. The plane has my cargo while you're going on this little rescue mission, so I'm accompanying you."

Rebecca groaned as they jumped aboard and strapped themselves in the passenger seats. In the cockpit, Doctor Kofka stared carefully at a map tracing his finger over various locations. Baloo licked his lips anxiously, shaking the stick slightly.

"Where to Doc?"

"Here!" Kofka said tapping on the map, "This island off the coast Samoa."

"You're just pointing at water, Doc!" Baloo said grabbing the map.

"Believe me, it's there." The doctor assured him patting his paw

The Seaduck took off and quickly sped to the horizon as the sunset illuminated the clouds with a violet light, creating a beautiful purple tapestry against the sky of twilight. Yet Baloo and Rebecca could not notice the nature that surrounded them.

The old tiger had not moved as he had removed the cover from  a small window and taken to watching outside the plane. He had done this for several minutes as if mesmerized by the sight of it all. Kit watched him wearily occasionally taking a peek behind in hopes he might spy an entrance of the cockpit. If he could he had a plan. Then suddenly from a distance he saw a crack of light as if coming from the bottom of a door. After a few moments the door opened creating a rectangle of light that shined brightly against Kit's cheek. From the door a skinny panther came running towards the old tiger.

"Sir!" he said loudly as he ran up to the tiger who continued to gaze out the window. He looked cautiously at Kit and then began to whisper something into his superior's ear. The tiger never changed his expression Kit noticed as he tried to read from his face what the panther was saying. When the panther was done, he handed the tiger a folder and then slowly began to walk back towards the open door. The tiger turned to face Kit.

"I'm sorry son," the tiger muttered softly, "It appears we've made a mistake."

"What's in there?" Kit inquired pointing at the folder.

"These? They're the plans to that blasted laser." He mumbled looking at them retrospectively.

Kit saw his chance, darting up from his chair, and kicking the papers high in the air creating a shower of valuable blue prints and notes that the tiger desperately tried to gather up.

"Stupid kid!" he yelled. "Hey wait!"

Kit ignored him and dashed for the door, blowing past the slow moving panther and knocking him over. Running through the door and locking it behind him, Kit found himself inside the cockpit, the two pilots having their backs turned to him.

"SO how'd the director take it Humphrey?" one of the asked.

"Better yet how'd the kid take it?" another quipped, but he turned around to see Kit, "Hold it right there!"

Kit saw him reach for a gun and he dove behind the other pilot's chair as he fired. He had followed Kit with his gun not realizing that his final aim had been at the control panels, and a small explosion of yellow sparks and white smoke followed the resounding bang from the ship. From his position close to the ground, Kit saw the gun fall a few feet in front of him as the two pilots exasperatedly tried to put out the fire. Rolling on the ground, Kit picked up the revolver and held it up presumably pointing it at the pilots as there was a pounding at the door behind him.

"Hey, kid," said one of the pilots as both had their hands up, "You know you kill us there won't be anyone to fly this plane home."

"Don't worry about that," Kit grinned, "I know how to fly." The pilots gulped and closed their eyes as Kit fired several times. Yet the pilots were surprised to feel a gust of wind blow past them and when they opened their eyes, they saw that the boy had shot a window open and a couple of times at the control panel which was now engulfed in flames.

"Why you little. . ." one of them laughed.

"Sorry about that," Kit said gesturing towards the panel, "Nervous twitch." And with that, the young cub jumped gracefully out of the window leaving behind him a fog of black smoke.

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"What's that!" Baloo said pointing to the cargo plane ahead of them.

The doctor stared at it carefully for a few moments, and then nodded, "That's it, Mr. Baloo."

"Be careful Baloo," warned Rebecca weary of both the danger and of Mr. Kurlander's cargo.

Baloo gradually and cunningly approached from beneath the aircraft. Yet as he stayed there a few moments, Baloo was at a loss, and after look at his instruments, he cursed himself. "There's nothing we can do, and I'm almost out of fuel."

"Oh, Baloo, there must be something you can do." Rebecca gasped, "We can't just leave."

Baloo shook his head sadly, "We gotta refuel, and I can't think of anyway of getting' onto that plane; it's just going to fast."

Rebecca leaned back into her chair, when she noticed something from the corner of her eye. It was something gleaming in the last remnants of sunlight.

"Look!" she yelled pointing outside, "There he is Baloo!"

Sure enough there was the familiar sight of Kit gliding slowly downward on his airboard. Quickly Baloo veered away from the descending cargo plane, and, giving a little more throttle, sped towards the boy. He opened the cargo doors and the doctor threw out the towrope. Baloo timed it perfectly and with a few moments Kit was safely aboard. While Baloo piloted, in the cargohold, Rebecca ran past  Kurlander and Hofka. She gratefully hugged Kit tightly.

"Oh, Kit, I thought you were gone." She whispered.

Kit hugged her back, but then nearly jumped out of his sweater when he saw Kurlander and Hofka lurking behind them.

"What are they doing here?" he said backing up taking Rebecca with him by the hand.

Kurlander reached in his coat and revealed a large, curved sword. "Now, Mr. Cloudkicker, it's time to divulge some secrets you've been hiding, haven't you?"

"Mr. Kurlander what are you doing?" Rebecca screamed.

"He's an airpirate, Miss. Cunningham," Kit replied, "He tricked you, and so did that doctor. They're working together. They just wanted the weapon for themselves like everybody else."

The two smiled proudly at Rebecca who trembled.

"No," she murmured, "You knew my husband, Dr. Hofka, you knew him as well as I did."

"It's amazing the feel you can get for a person by talking to a few friends and looking at a few records. That's all it was, Rebecca, statistical information." Hofka grinned.

"What's going on in here!" Baloo stormed into the cargo hold only to be stopped by a sword at his throat.

"We're all fine in here, Mr. Baloo." Kurlander informed him, "I suggest you go fly your plane. That is what you know best, isn't it?"

"Why you little," Baloo snarled, "I knew you were trouble."

Baloo didn't budge, and Kurlander was beginning to relish having an excuse to kill the annoying bear. Yet he also was weary of not having a pilot for the return trip home.

"Baloo, it's okay." Kit said giving him a thumbs up with his left hand. Scratching his head, the big bear blinked deliberately, "What are you talkin' about."

"Everything's under control." Kit again gave him a thumbs up. Baloo nodded in understanding and breathed deeply, "You sure, kit?"

Kit said yes, and the big bear tiptoed back to the cockpit. Kurlander and Hofka watched him for a few moments until he seemed to be settled in, Kurlander noticed Baloo tightly strap on his seatbelt, but took no heed of it. Slowly they approached, Kit and Rebecca.

"You trust me, right Rebecca," Kit asked, grabbing her hand

Rebecca was still visibly shaken by the disclosure of the truth, "I don't care anymore, Kit."

Kit sighed, "Just hold onto me as tightly as you can."

"Why?"

Rebecca's question was promptly answered, as Baloo sharply pulled up. The cargo doors were still open, and Rebecca and Kit still holding hands plummeted from the Seaduck. Hofka fell too, but Kurlander onto the chair that had been next to him, hanging on for dear life.

"Nincompoop! How could I be so stupid!" he chided himself.

Baloo looked over his shoulder and grinned, "Hey, ruddertail what are you hanging around for?"

Taking the crowbar which he used as an autopilot, Baloo daintily let it go. Flipping end over end through the air, it cuffed Kurlander squarely in the face, forcing him to let go, wailing for all he was worth. Rebecca fainted as she and Kit hurtled through the air, and the young cub took her by the waste and opened up the airfoil beneath, allowing them to glide gracefully to the water where they splashed down.Kit saw the water rippling from wear Hofka had hit, yet there was no sign of him. And within a few moments there was a blast of water from the impact of the hefty beaver. As he and Rebecca struggled to stay afloat, the Seaduck settled against the water some twenty yards away. Baloo came out onto the platoons and threw a lifesaver out to them. Kit, expending a great deal of energy was able to paddle  to the Duck while keeping Rebecca's head above water. Baloo helped him by lifting Rebecca out of the water, and laying her down onto a blanket in the cargohold.

"That was quick thinking kid," Baloo smiled lightly, clapping him on the back, "A little risky though."

"What happened to that other cargo plane, Papa Bear?" Kit asked solemnly shaking the water off of his ears.

"Why I just heard on the radio. It's crashed, L'il Britches." Baloo replied hugging the boy around the shoulder.

Kit nodded, "They wanted me cause they thought I was smart. Because of the test. . .that was a mistake wasn't it? Those scores?"

Baloo sighed and rubbed Kit's head, "Yeah, got the letter today. A big misunderstanding is what it was."

"That really is a horrible thing." Kit said as he threw his wet cap inside the plane.

"Come on, let's get you and bosslady home." Baloo suggested.

"Yeah." Kit took one last look at the gorgeous orange, crescent moon overhead, and closed the door on the silent, sparkling waves of a black sea.

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EPILOGUE

It is like a dark, clandestine wilderness this evanescent memory that seeps through myself. It is a mind of adamant belief and beautiful sympathy, yet as time goes by with its truculent touch that turns all that was bright and clear full of swirling dust and the black shadows of midnight. What must have been is now what may have been or what have could have been. These petulant shadows surround me, and I fall to my knees as all that I have known slowly melts away like any trite or trivial piece of life. If my memories had disappeared with my husband that day, I must know, or I shall travel through those misty woods chasing after every nostalgic sight or sound, forever entrapped by an ephemeral hope that what once was will be again and by an eternal fear that it was all a lie.

Rebecca knocked softly on the door although it was already open. She walked in to find Joel in his hospital bed, the sun shining through the translucent drapes onto his head. Placing the flowers she had brought on the bedside table, she sat down restively hoping to think of some lucid direction in which to proceed and somewhat relieved that he was asleep. Yet within a few moments she heard  a soft mumbling from Goodsen, who opened his eyes and weakly grinned at her.

"How are you Rebecca?" he asked breathing heavily from his nose.

She looked at him sadly, "I'm okay I suppose. At least I'm in better shape than you are."

He laughed, "I was glad to hear everything turned out all right, but I hafta wonder what you're doing here."

"Well," she began fearfully, "I was so convinced that Dr. Hofka knew my husband; he seemed to know everything about him. . .It's just that. . . I can't understand that if I loved Chazz as much as thought we did why I couldn't tell the doctor was a fake."

Joel sat himself up and patted Rebecca's hand, "The clues were there, Rebecca. You just didn't want to see them."

"I miss him so much." She sniffed.

"And he misses you too, I know it for a fact." Joel replied, "You're all he ever talked about, Rebecca, I swear."

"Really?"

"But one thing you gotta understand, Rebecca, is that it's natural thing to forget things." Joel said, "It's the way we were made cause otherwise the past would be all we thought about. And besides since you loved him so much the things you'll forget are all the bad memories. So that's not so bad."

"Yeah, you're right, Joel."

As Rebecca strolled down the street, cars passing by splashing water from a morning drizzle onto the sidewalk and making a soothing swoosh as they passed by, the bearess felt the heavy clouds hovering over her begin to liberate their tears onto Cape Suzette. The rain as soft as cotton dripped onto her face, and Rebecca, shutting her eyes turned her face upward, extended her arms and twirled around giggling profusely as she often done as little child while stomping through the puddle-filled streets as the nearby cathedral bell rang through the alleyways as a harbinger of the end of another school day.

The END