The testing command center was in an uproar. Maussey's furious ranting filled the room. He had watched Jewels and Jeremy enter the training area where the three Gatoans and Adam waited. After a moment of talking, Jewels, along with Adam, had vanished.
The vid feed suddenly died. Despite his yells to fix it, the feed never came back up. One by one, the other views became static, and the observation room was blind.
"Status report, now!" he bellowed at a frantic Private.
"Sir, we've been locked out of the system."
"No!" Maussey slammed his hand down on the table. He whirled and stalked toward Renten. "It's all your fault! You filthy beasts came here and ruined everything. You will pay for disrupting my plans!"
Renten's composed expression had Maussey seeing red. He jerked his gun from its holster and raised it to fire at the Gatoan King.
"I don't think so, Sir."
Maussey blinked, distracted by Dr. Cosmit, who had stepped between him and the Gatoans. "I knew it! You are in on this plot! I will shoot through you, you conniving woman!"
"Sorry, Sir, but you won't. I'm afraid it's the end of the road for you."
"Meaning what, you stupid girl!"
"Oh, it's easy. You've been made. They know that you and a Lupine agent had plans to grab Jewels. UPO and Psi-Ops have had countermeasures in place for months. They also know about your money laundering and acceptance of bribes. This is a cleansing, BG. General Maussey, and you're about to become part of the trash."
"You arrogant bitch!" Maussey pulled the trigger and screamed in disbelief when electricity surged from the weapon into his body. He howled and went to his knees. He couldn't make his finger release the trigger. The last thing Maussey saw as his eyes rolled up in his head and unconsciousness claimed him was Dr. Cosmit's smug grin.
"Whew, that was nasty," Elenora remarked when Maussey's body finally stopped twitching. She glanced at Renten and grinned at his amusement.
"You humans are very surprising. Ah, my son arrives."
Dex charged into the room, claws ready. "What happened?"
Elenora grinned, walked over to Maussey's body, and nudged him with her shoe. "Just taking care of business. You guys need to get going. The Lupines are about to meet our mighty fleet. We thought you would like to be part of it."
"Remind me never to anger a female healer." Renten bowed to her, and she smiled.
"Duly noted. And Dex, don't worry. Jewels will find you. She can't live without you."
Dex gasped, recovered his composure, and went to his father's side.
"Good luck." Elenora waved, turned her back to them, and started shouting orders at the staff.
Renten chuckled. "What a woman! Dex, teleport us now. Master Chief Leftclaw is having a fit, and the humans need some help."
"Yes, Father."
Renten felt the gentle pull of Dex's power as they returned to their flagship. Leftclaw stood, barking orders as the bridge crew rushed to comply.
"Status, Master Chief." Renten went to the captain's chair and sat, his tail swishing slowly.
"We're trying to find out which of Bonebreaker's Betas he sent so that we can better formulate our strategy. For whatever reason, they did not destroy the three ships we had monitoring this galaxy's borders. It will cost him."
"Yes, it will, old friend. The humans apparently have a fleet of their own. Another thing left out in our full disclosure session. Unexpected, but welcome news. We must be ready to assist."
"My King, the ten Lupine dreadnoughts have stopped near Earth's moon."
"Dex, sound the alarm. Battle stations. We must protect our allies. For Felinia and for Earth!" Renten roared.
The bridge filled with a resounding cheer as the Gatoans readied for battle.