Rosie, Willie and Tully woke up in their workers’ bunks to see the sun rising over the forest. They stretched, and rubbed their eyes with their paws. Morning had come so soon for them. They had tossed and turned all night. Soon the blare of loudspeakers could be heard everywhere, as laborers rushed to their posts. No one wanted to be punished for being late on the job. It meant bread and water, and solitary confinement. Life in the evil compound was rough, and there were no second chances. When overworked kitties were of no more use to Brutus-G, they just mysteriously disappeared from the camp.
The three undercover moles were eager to get busy on their fact-finding mission. Things really could not have worked out any better for them. Because Rosie would be waiting on Brutus-G from morning to night, she would be able to see first hand how he ran his sinister operation. Willie would be out in the fields working, and would be able to examine the Furbain plants up close, and Tully would be able to see what was going on with the deadly virus.
Rosie hurried to her assignment. Brutus-G was surrounded by worker-kitties, who were knocking themselves out to please him. The evil leader was a very bad-tempered individual. He did not treat anyone well, including Rosie.
“Get over here, and scratch my back. Come on, get moving. I’m not going to tell you again, and where is my café au lait?” he screeched. “I’m not accustomed to waiting, and if I don’t get what I want, when I want it, I’m going to throw you all in my alligator dungeon.”
Brutus-G continued his rant, and scared kitties began tripping over each other to wait on him.
“Holy Flying Carp,” thought Rosie. “He is one very spoiled kitty.”
Rosie made it her business to stay very alert. She moved fast, and got him whatever he wanted. Her thought was to keep him very busy, and hold his attention. She reasoned that if Brutus-G were distracted, her fellow moles would have a “freer paw” in spying on his operation.
Willie got moving, too. She promptly went out to the Furbain fields. She was anxious to see how the Bad Cats managed to grow so many healthy plants. She knew, first hand, from her work with Vets Without Borders, how much suffering the dreaded Cat Scratch Fever can cause. She looked out on row after row of Furbain. Brutus-G did not really have sophisticated irrigation and water systems–but what he did have were hundreds of forced laborers. His high plant yields came on the backs of suffering and mistreated kitties. Willie was outraged, but held her feelings at bay to protect the mission. The unfairness of the situation was an affront to her very keen sense of justice.
Tully could hardly believe that she had been chosen to join Rosie and Willie on such an important mission. She was so excited that she was almost jumping out of her fur. The three spies were supposed to pretend they were only looking for adventure, but for Tully no acting was required.
She was just thrilled to be a part of this mission. As she was being fitted with a bio-hazard suit, her heart was beating out of her chest. She was helped into the suit, and then joined the other captive workers, who were entering the secret laboratory. Tully’s eyes widened. There were scores of kitties working with powerful microscopes, and bubbling cauldrons of colored liquids. Some worked with petri dishes and huge Bunsen burners–and the liquids traveled through long clear pipes around the walls and ceilings. This was the outer laboratory, but the inner room was smaller–and workers in that part of the lab all wore the bulky bio-hazard suits.
“Come on, Tully!” the mean guard yelled. “We do not have all day. Get in there, now, or we’ll throw you to the wild dogs!”
Tully entered the inner chamber, and immediately noticed how cold it was. There were fans and blowers everywhere. This was obviously where the Cat Pox virus was stored. She joined the others, and began filling up and stacking vials of the deadly liquid.