Baudelaire made breakfast, scrambled eggs, toast, and bacon, as it was his turn to make the meals for the day. Shadow gulped down her food. Captain Cattitude took his time, which irritated, Shadow. Phoebe got to breakfast late as she slept in. She came to the dining room table in her jammies. Shadow just rolled her eyes. “Well, Shadow today is your big day,” said Suzie. “Are you excited?” she asked. “Yes, mam, very excited, beyond excited. Today I become a cool kitty with superpowers,” Shadow quickly rattled off her words, her voice in a higher pitch than normal. “Well, then, this is going to be a big day then, “replied Suzie. Captain Cattitude finally finished his meal. “Come Shadow. Let’s begin your training,” said Captain Cattitude as he stood up and begin to walk toward his room. Shadow jumped out of her seat so fast she almost tripped over herself as she rushed to follow Captain Cattitude to his room.
“Come, sit here,” he pointed to a chair facing him. “The first power I am going to teach you is how to levitate on-demand,” “Stand up now,” he said to Shadow. Shadow jumped to her feet unable to control her excitement. “Now, sit and place your left paw on your head and repeat Mafdet over and over until you start to levitate. It’s the same thing you did to come down the other night, except focus on going up,” said Captain Cattitude. Shadow sat and repeated Mafdet over and over, but nothing was happening. “What’s wrong? Why am I not levitating?” said a frustrated Shadow. “This is not an easy power to learn. You must have it come from your heart and mind – they must be one. Now try again but feel it in your heart and mind,” said Captain Cattitude. Shadow tried again. Still, she did not levitate. “Again, try again,” said Captain Cattitude. Shadow tried again, and again, hours passed, and she still could not levitate. “Once more, again,” said Captain Cattitude. Shadow placed her left paw on her head and begin reciting Mafdet over and over but saying it from your heart and mind. She began to slowly start to levitate and took on a green eerie glow. “That’s it continue until you almost touch the ceiling,” said Captain Cattitude Up, up she went. She felt a bit light-headed from the energy she was exerting. Captain Cattitude had a wide smile on his face. Shadow had learned her first superpower. “Now, bring yourself down by focusing on your heart that you want to come down,” he said. Shadow did as she was told and she began to slowly come down. When Shadow was on the ground, Captain Cattitude said, “That’s enough for today…”
Shadow, for once, did not have any visits from Mafdet in her sleep. She slept peacefully. When she awoke, she was overly excited realizing today she begins her special power training. She thought to herself now I am mature, and I will become a cool kitty.. She immediately jumped out of bed and pranced to Captain Cattitude’s room. The door to Captain Cattitude’s room was closed. Shadow withheld her excitement and decided to wait patiently for Captain Cattitude to wake. She promptly sat next to his door. She waited a full fifteen minutes before she couldn’t stand it anymore. She knocked on his door. “Captain Cattitude, are you awake?” She heard some grumbling come from his room. “Yes, Shadow I am now,” he said. Very quickly and in a high-fever-pitched voice, she said,” When do we begin my training?” “Right after breakfast,” he said…
After dinner, everyone retired to the living room to continue the conversation that was started at dinner. “Now, as Phoebe pointed out indirectly, I have been made the leader for this adventure in protecting Shadow, Phoebe and Captain Cattitude. I have been given the background information on Captain Cattitude but Shadow’s floating in the air is something new for me. Captain Cattitude you said you could explain what is happening to her. Could you do that now, please? I need to know everything about everyone if I am to keep everyone safe”, said Suzie.
“Yes, of course, to make a long story short, Shadow is a relative of mine. When we came to Earth and helped the Egyptians build the pyramids, we mated with the Egyptian cats and mixed DNA. Thus, shadow is part Catmoonian and part Egyptian cat. She is going through what we call the Changeling. That is, as Catmoonian cat matures, they gain certain powers and Mafdet visits them in their sleep to signal the start of the process. During this time, powers are activated. Shadow’s powers had started to be activated.” At this moment, both Shadow and Phoebe burst out in laughter. “What is so funny?” asks Baudelaire. “Phoebe has gas,” said Shadow doubling over with laughter.
“While winking at Shadow, Suzie said, “Despite Phoebe having gas, is there anything else we should be concerned about Captain Cattitude regarding Shadow?”. “I would say yes if I weren’t here to help her through the transformation. I will ensure she goes through the Changeling without hurting anyone or herself. Some of the powers that are coming could be deadly in the wrong hands. I, of course, will make sure she only uses them for good. I will begin her training tomorrow.” “Very well,” said Suzie.
For the first time during the meeting, Peter spoke up, “Here are some basic rules for everyone. Everyone will take turns making dinner except for Phoebe and Shadow. They will be responsible for cleaning up after dinner. There is a curfew. Lights out at midnight. Surveillance cameras are throughout the house in the common areas; so be aware, you are being watched. The virus puts a whole new twist on everything. I’m afraid will be stuck in the house for a while. I suggest we all make the best of it. “That’s it for now. I suggest we all go to bed. It’s going to be a busy day for some of us tomorrow” concluded Peter…
Everyone was sitting at the dining room table. Suzie had prepared spaghetti, and Peter had prepared the salad. Suzie spoke: “Before we begin dinner, I thought I should let you know where we stand. This coronavirus and how it is spread is still unknown. It looks like we could be held up in this safe house for a while. All communications coming in and out of this house will be monitored. The computers in your room Shadow and Phoebe only allow you to receive data not send out data. This was done for your safety, President Trump is still looking for your alien friend. However, the search for him has been put on the back burner as he has this coronavirus to attend to. Currently, Italy is reporting cases. Italy is very close to us, so you see the urgency we must practice.” “Let’s eat before dinner gets cold. We can continue the conversation after dinner,” she concluded. “So Suzie is the leader,” said Phoebe under breath to no one in particular. “Yes, Phoebe I have been assigned as the leader for this adventure.” “Do you have a problem with that?” said Suzie smiling. “No, mam,” said Pheobe. Well, we can discuss this more after dinner,” said Suzie as she piled spaghetti onto her plate…
Phoebe and Shadow unpacked their bags and put their things away. They both laid down to take a nap. it was a tiring journey for both. Shadow was especially tired since the Changeling was having its way with her. Phoebe noted that Shadow’s fur was thickening more and Shadow looked a bit like a lion. Within minutes of laying down, the girls fell asleep.
Suzie put her things away and headed to the kitchen to start dinner. She headed to the pantry to see what she could whip up in a short time. She decided on spaghetti. She opened the door to the large pantry and saw that it had been well-stocked. They had food for at least four months before they would have to get more, she thought. She began looking for spaghetti sauce and pasta, She found them after she looked around awhile Next, she headed to the walk-in freezer and grabbed some ground beef, She found the pots and pans and placed a pan on the stove to brown the meat. She found another pan and put the pasta sauce in it to heat it up. “A salad would be nice also,” she said allowed. “That would be,” said Peter coming up from behind her which startled her. “Don’t do that,” she yelled. “How can I help?” he asked. “You can make the salad. I’ll go let the others know dinner will be ready in a half-hour.”
Baudelaire was just waking up when he heard the scream coming from Shadow and Phoebe’s room. He recognized the voice. It was Phoebe. He grabbed his gun and then ran down the hallway to the room. Suzie came right up behind him, her gun withdrawn, Baudelaire threw open the door. In the middle of the room Shadow was levitating in her sleep. Phoebe was in the corner terrified and still screaming. Captain Cattitude heard the scream also. He made his way to the their room also. He pushed aside Suzie who stood in the doorway her gun aimed at Shadow and whose mouth was hanging open. “Put you guns away. It’s part of the Changeling. She want harm any one. “She’s floating in mid-air,” said Suzie once her mouth and mind began to work together again. “Is she an alien also,” she said. “No, I’ll explain later. Right now we need to get her down safely,” Captain Cattitude said. By this time, Baudelaire had went over to Phoebe and was comforting her, telling her Shadow would be herself again and not to worry or be afraid of her. “How do you propose we get her to come down,” said Suzie. “I’ll need to mind-meld with her, and teach her to come down herself,” said Captain Cattitude as he shut his eye tight and placed his hands on his head. Shadow began to twitch up in the air. She woke up. She became afraid. She looked at everyone in shock. “How did I get up here?” she asked. A voice distant and becoming stronger she began to hear in her head. “Shadow it’s Captain Cattitude you are safe. This is all part of the Changling. This is your first power. You can levitate. Now, I’m going to teach you how to come down safely. Do you understand?” said the voice in her head. “Yes, I do,” said Shadow back to Captain Cattitude in her head. To you surprise Captain Cattitude head her. “Now, place your left Paw on top of your head and recite the following word. Mafdet. Keep repeating the word until you are on the ground,” he said. Shadow did as he told her and she began to slowly descend to the ground. Suzie looked on with a quizzical look on her face. Phoebe and Baudelaire just looked on with amazement. Phoebe had calmed down and was holding Baudelaire’s paw.
When Shadow was on the ground, she ran over to Phoebe. Captain Cattitude came out of his trance and smiled that it worked. It had all taken place in five minutes. Suzie had regained her composure and announced dinner would be ready soon. “We need to discuss what happened here,” she said. I didn’t know we had two aliens.” “We don’t. It’s only me. I’ll explain at dinner time.” “Shadow will experience more powers as the Changeling continues its process,” said Captain Cattitude…
One by one everyone made their way down the stairs. Each one carrying their bags with them. In front of them was a long corridor made of metal and lit by fluorescent lights which gave off a green glow. At the end of the corridor was a metal door that had a keypad. Suzie punched in the code and the door slid open. Inside was a de-contaminate room. “Please everyone walk into the glass-covered enclosure. It will de-contaminate your suits. “Oh, and one at a time, oops, forgot to mention that,” said Suzie nervously giggling.
Shadow was the first in. She stood where there was an x on the floor. Her suitcases on the floor next to her. Suddenly, blasts of cool air came from all around her. It lasted for about a minute. Through an intercom system, Suzie told her to step through to next door, remove the suit, and wait in the room for the others to finish the de-contaminate process,” Phoebe went next, followed by Baudelaire, then Peter, then Captain Cattitude and finally Suzie. In the waiting room was another door. Suzie walked over to the other door and punch in numbers on the keypad to the left of the door. The door opened to reveal what looked like a modern house. The kitchen was massive – it was the first thing everyone saw. “Whew wee,” said Phoebe under her breath, “that’s a big kitchen.”
The group made their way through the kitchen to the family room. The living room had three couches, an entertainment center, a coffee table, and four lamps. Baudelaire noticed there were no windows in the family room but fake ones that showed light through as if they were real. “I believe we are underground,” said Baudelaire. “Yes, we are twenty feet underground,” said Peter. “They tried to make it seem like we were outside the best they could,” he concluded.
“Come on girls, let me show you to your room,” said Suzie. “Captain Cattitude you have your own room, as well as you Baudelaire,” said Peter. “Let me show you your rooms”, he motioned as he moved down the hallway off the living room. Down the hallway were several bedrooms. The first bedroom was Phoebe’s and Shadows. It was painted pink and had two beds, two computer desks and a bookshelf filled with tween books in it. Off to the right was the bathroom. “I’ll let you girls get settled in,” said Suzie as she headed off to her bedroom. Peter showed Baudelaire and Captain Cattitude their rooms. Yelling down the hallway, Suzie said, “Dinner is served at five. Please don’t be late. We have much to talk about…”
They drove for what seemed like for hours…Phoebe watched the scenery change from beautiful flowers to snow-covered mountains. She also noticed that the temperature dropped a bit. Shadow, meanwhile was having one of her Changling dreams. She woke up with a scream. All the fur on her was standing up. Captain Cattitude assured her the Changling would be over soon as he tried to comfort her. Peter and Suzie were jolted by Shadow’s scream. “Cheez, is she all right?” said Suzie concerned. “Yes, she will be,” said Captain Cattitude.
As they drove along, the scenery became filled with trees and mountains. There seemed to be no one else around the further they drove. “Where is this safe house,” Shadow said. “We seem to be out here by ourselves,” said Shadow. “We are. The safe house is hidden up in the mountains in the forest,” said Peter. “We will pretty much be away from civilization. It’s going to be very safe for you and your alien friend.”
Peter veered off the paved road and began to head down an unpaved road that was full of twists and turns. Phoebe, her complexion turning pale, began to get motion sickness. Shadow noticing this, handed Phoebe a plastic bag that happened to be hanging from the back of the driver’s seat. “Thanks,” she said as she began to get ill and used the bag immediately.
After a short period, the road began to straighten out. All around them were tall magnificent trees. Peter made a turn out to another unpaved road and in the distance, they could see the safe house. It was rundown. The wood was rotting, the roof was caved in, and pieces of the cabin were laying up against it. It looked like no one could live in it. “This is where we have to stay,” said Phoebe holding her bag and looking out the window. “Yes, this is the safe house,” said Suzie.
The mini-van came to a stop and all occupants exited it. Peter walked over to a tree a short distance away and pulled aside a piece of wood, underneath was a keypad. He began to punch in numbers. The door to the safe house opened up… It was worse inside. The sink was piled with dirty dishes. There was broken furniture everywhere. Shadow just stared in disbelief that this is where she would have to stay for what she imagined would be a very long time, She hesitantly made the first move to step through the door. Phoebe with a look of disgust on her face followed Shadow followed by Baudelaire and then Peter then Suzie. Suzie being the last in, shut the door behind her. She then stepped over to the sink and began to turn the faucet on. She then stepped over to a decomposing picture hanging on the wall and removed it. Underneath was another keypad, She punched in the numbers, suddenly, a piece of the floor gave way to show stairs leading down to a brightly, lit metallic corridor.
“Come on, let’s us see the safe house Suzie said as she began to climb down the stairs….
In the distance came roaring the black mini-van. It wasn’t so mini upon closer inspection It could seat six people. The gang piled out of the spaceship. Captain Cattitude had some kind of device on his arm. He touched it and the ship went up to the air. He then turned on stealth mode. The spaceship began to ascend further up in the air then disappear. “Wow,” said Phoebe when the ship was no longer seen.
“Quickly, we must get in the van,” said Boulelaire as he walked quickly toward the van and opened up the door. The others followed suit. Inside the van were two agents. They had hazmat suits on. They motioned for everyone to get on board. “What’s this queried?” Baudelaire. Haven’t you heard China has an outbreak of the Coronavirus? It’s deadly in some cases. “We are not taking any chances, especially since you have an alien amongst you,” said Peter a rather thin man. His hazmat suit draped on like a Shar-Pei dog. Suzie the other agent suit fit her like Catwoman’s suit. It hung on her skin tight. She was curvaceous and looked sexy in the suit, “You need to change into the hazmat suits we brought. We have one specially made for each one of you. They have been modified to fit your body type based on the measurements Baudelaire gave us. Please put them on now,” said Suzie. “We don’t want to take any chances,” she concluded. “By the way welcome to Earth Captain Cattitude,” said, Peter. Sure enough, the suits fit perfectly. Shadow wondered when did Baudelaire take their measurements. She didn’t recall hi doing so. Soon all four were in their suits. “Great, we will now take you to the safe house. Please buckle up,” said Suzie.
Although the windows were dark from the outside, you could still see the outside as if the windows were clear. Phoebe noticed how beautiful the scenery was as they began to speed away to the safe house. “Look how beautiful it is outside, said Phoebe to no one in particular.
“You might as well get used to seeing the outside because you’ll be inside most of the time. They still don’t know how this virus is spread. We are not taking any chances, so we will be inside until they know,” said Peter…
“I have a question to ask, Wouldn’t it be safer if we stayed in the spaceship? I could put it in a mode where we would stay in orbit without being seen,” said Captain Cattitude to a still shaky Boulelaire. “All though that does sound like a good idea I don’t want to put the girls into social isolation up in this ship. The safehouse has everything we need to live comfortably, and meets my needs to protect all of you,” said Baudelaire. “Well, we should prepare to land. We are at the location you gave me. It is a clear area, right?” said Captain Cattitude. “Yes, I made sure the agents that are helping us made sure we could land your ship safely. They will be picking us up from the location and then taking us to the safe house,” said Baudelaire. .”Perfect,” said Captain Cattitude. Good well please strap yourself in the spaceship is preparing to land. This should be an easier experience than take off. How are you holding up Shadow?” said Captain Cattitude. “I’m fine, a little tired from the trip. I’m anxious to land and to get this adventure off and rolling,” said Shadow. “Okay, everyone in their seats and strapped in? Landing begins in 3, 2, 1,” said Captain Cattitude. Immediately, the spaceship began to descend to Earth. Out of the spaceship windows, the land of the landing site began to appear and first tiny then larger as the ship continued its descent. It’s beautiful,” said Phoebe straining in her sear to get a better view of the landscape. What Pheobe saw was a row of flowers, The spaceship was landing in a field of flowers, Phoebe thought we are destroying all the beautiful flowers.
There was a loud thud as the spaceship made contact to the ground. Everyone gave out a sigh of relief. In the distance, a black mini-van was coming up fast on the spaceship. “Ah, our welcoming committee is right on time,” said Baudelaire. “Come on we don’t have much time. Captain Cattitude needs to get his ship back in orbit, said Bouldelaire as he motioned for everyone to get moving. Captain Cattitude can you lead the way to the exit?” “Yes, of course, follow me,” said Captain Cattitude.
After being in the car for several hours, Shadow, Captain Cattitude, Baudelaire, and Phoebe made it to Captain Cattitude’s spaceship located at Lake Merced. Baudelaire woke Shadow up from her deep sleep “We are here, Shadow,” said Baudelaire as he shook Shadow awake. “Oh, ok,” shadow replied yawning out her response. “Captain Cattitude we need to hide this car. Can you do that?” said Baudelaire. “Yes, I can put an invisible shield on the car once we get to the spaceship.” Let me step outside and make sure no one is around,” said Captain Cattitude “You think people will be around at 3:30 AM?” said Phoebe sarcastically. “Yes, there may be people around at this time. I don’t want to take any chances,” replied Captain Cattitude in a matter of fact way.
Captain Cattitude stepped out of the car and headed toward a forest of trees in a short distance. “What is he doing?” said Phoebe. “I believe he is retrieving his spaceship out of its hiding place,” said Baudelaire. “Yes, he sent it up into orbit using stealth blocking technology so it could not be picked up on radar,” said Shadow as she stepped out of the car heading toward the forest. All of a sudden, a bright light lit up the forest and a loud roar was heard. Shadow ran toward the forest. In a clearing was Captain Cattidude standing by his spaceship. “Hurry, get the others. We need to get out of here quickly before someone sees us,” said Captain Cattitude to a running Shadow now heading back to the car.
“Everyone get out of the car and follow me,” said shadow upon reaching the car. Everyone got out of the car and began to follow Shadow to the spaceship. When they arrived at the clearing, they saw Captain Cattitude standing by an opened door in the spaceship where a ramp led to the inside of the ship. “Quickly get on board the spaceship. We must leave now,” said Captain Cattitude pointing to the opening in the spaceship. Shadow went first, the others stood and looked somewhat afraid to get on board the spaceship. “Come on,” yelled Shadow as she scurried to the opening in the spaceship. “We don’t have time to waste.” Phoebe made the first step toward the spaceship and the others followed. Once everyone was inside the spaceship, Captain Cattitude boarded. “Everyone follow me,” said Captain Cattitude to the group. “We must get you strapped in before I can take off,” he said as he ran down the metal-coated corridor to the front of the spaceship. Everyone came up behind him and began to run as he was. After running what seemed to be in a circle, they came upon the front of the spaceship. In front of them were twelve seats and a vast amount of blinking colored lights from a huge console in the front of the spaceship. In front of the console was a single large seat from which the captain could command the spaceship. “Please take a seat and stay still. The chairs will automatically strap you in once we start take-off,” said Captain Cattitude.
Captain Cattitude took a seat in the console chair. A crystal clear screen seemed to appear in mid-air in front of him. He placed his hands on the screen and began to manipulate it. The spaceship made a whirling sound as its engines came to life. The seats were everyone sat began to vibrate violently. Pheobe wet herself as her fear began to escalate at the thought of flying into space. Shadow dug her claws into the arm wrest trying not to show the others she was afraid. Baudelaire made a low whimpering noise as the spaceship began to leave the ground.
“Is everyone ok,” asked Captain Cattitude. Everyone nodded their head yes even though they did not feel safe. “The initial take-off is kind of rough but once we get into orbit, things will calm down and we should have a smooth journey from there. “I need to plot our navigation. Where exactly are we going Baudelaire?” said Captain Cattitude. “We are going to the swiss alps. I have the coordinates written down,” said Baudelaire. “I’ll come and get them from you, so I can plug them into the navigation system. Captain Cattidue unstrapped himself reached his right arm forward and made hand gestures on the screen as he put the ship on auto-pilot and made his way to Baudelaire. “Is that safe for you to leave the console like that?” said a shaken Baudelaire. “Yes, it’s safe. I put the spaceship in auto-pilot mode,” said Captain Catitude as he reached for the paper in Baudelaire’s shaking hand. “Thank you I will plug these coordinate in, and we will be on our way to your safe house,” said Captain Cattidude as he headed back to the console.
Captain Cattitude raised his hands to the floating screen in front of him. He punched some buttons and moved screens to the left with his hand until he came to the navigation pane. He punched the coordinates into the navigation system. There was minor movement by the spaceship as he re-adjusted the navigation to the safe house. “Looks like we are going to the Swiss Alps. Is that correct Baudelaire?” said Captain Cattitude from his command chair. “Yes, that is correct. How long will it take?” said Baudelaire. “My calculations have us arriving in ten minutes. “Wow, that fast?” said Baudelaire. “Yes, that fast,” said Captain Cattitude. “Did you remember to hide the car?” said Baudelaire. “Yes, I hid it before we took off,” said Captain Catitude…
