Days had went by, and I was feeling more conformable in my new 'home'. No one had attacked the city and Chance and Jake had just started teaching me the basics of flying.  My first flight would be in several days and after that more intense flight drill. I had realized why all this was so familiar because their had been a show on the Swat Kats, and the this universe was identical in almost every way to that program.

    I had told them how much my old home had meant to me and how I had wanted to join the Air Force.  The topic of the military fascinated Chance and Jake, and they enjoyed hearing about the armed services, though they tended to lead the conversation to how the jets in our universes were so different. 

    It was depressing, not knowing what had happened to Kadena and how they Air Force guys had reacted to their plane disappearing. The pilot, if he had seen me take off, probably would of been furious, his jet leaving without him in it. But that was now all in the past, Kadena and Okinawa.  The Swat Kat world was now my home, I couldn't afford to crack up. 

    "This thing only goes Mach 2.5?  I can't believe it, our jet can easily reach that speed, with a top speed of Mach 5.  Hmmmm.  You need some real upgrades, but I don't know if Chance and I can get around to them right now. All I can do is a check up on your systems and do some quick fix repairs."

    "What can I say?  This jet isn't the fastest comes to speed.  So, it still has a good radar, Heads Up Display and HOTAS. And it probably could still out fly the Enforcers with ease." I said.

    "Yeah it probably could, but anyone who decides you're lunch, will be able to shoot you down easily.  The upgrades you need would take days to install, and like you said, you wouldn't be able to help." Jake said.

    "So?  You could teach me the basics about aircraft mechanics.  I want to fly again as soon as possible.  Maybe you could build a flight simulator and I could practice. In my universe, there aren't any wars or anything happening right now, but a jet called the F-22 Raptor is being developed, but the bugs are still being worked out of the craft." I stated, recalling the thrust vectoring.

    "Really?  Everything looks okay here, that should conclude the check-up.  I should be able to upgrade this jet in about a week, so that gives you time to come up with a list of items you want improved on this plane of yours." Jake said, closing the hatch on the side of the jet.

    "Uh, thanks. Do you mind if I look through your blue prints? They could give me some ideas." I said, my mind racing.

    "Sure, they're in the file cabinet, by the door. I have to get back to work on some cars these guys brought in today.  Start making the list and maybe later I can help you later." Jake responded, turning to leave the hanger.

    "Sure, do you have any books on your culture?  I know this sounds strange, but I'd like to know about your holidays and festivals and whatever, if you don't mind.  I'd like to see what Earth's cultures have in common with this universe." I said, making a move to leave the jet I was in, without trying to look like a fool.  I stepped on the first rung of the ladder and after stepping down several times, landed on smooth concrete.

    "Yeah, upstairs, somewhere.  See you later," Jake said, finally leaving.  I nodded, got several pieces of paper, a sketching board and started sketching a improved design of the F-15. After ten or so minutes, I finally got so restless that I decided to look around at all the missiles and computers in the hanger's underground rooms.  As I walked around my jet, I left the room that held just this F-15, and went into the main room of the hanger. This room was huge, and could of housed three or four Eagles, but instead, held large quantities of weaponry and several main frame computers, which were off.  I saw piles of specially racked up missiles, such as the Mega Bolt Missile and Saw Bade Missile, along side the Turbo Kat several meters away.  Looking at each type of armament for several seconds, I then walked to the Turbo Kat and studied it for several minutes, then saw three doors leading deeper into the hanger.  I entered the first door and saw the center fugue, its control panel and a buzzer.  Walking around the center fugue, I found a smaller room with no door, but had a concrete floor, ceiling and walls.  In here, I saw spare parts for the Turbo Kat, and the door that would be later attached to this room along with its hinges.  Leaving, I crossed back from the center fugue room, into the main hanger room.  I looked at the other two doors, and considered exploring them, but quickly changed my mind. The second door was labeled: Under Construction, and the third: Fuel Storage Room.

    Walking back to the F-15's room, I sat down on a weather beaten crate and continued my sketches on the clipboard.  Murmuring to myself, I drew and picture of a more stream-lined Eagle, with some stealthy statistics.  I recalled hearing about some of the things that makes a jet, or any aircraft look smaller on radar, and worked on several more sketches, till dinner time...

    I went upstairs and saw Jake sitting on the couch watching Litterbin, while I heard Chance making something in the kitchen. I walked over to Jake and handed him the sketches of the improved Eagle, and after a brief few moments, I slumped onto the couch.  While I had been thinking of the Eagle, I had also been thinking about my old home, family and friends.  I guess I felt depressed and just pain worn out.

    "Nice work," Jake said, putting the sketch board somewhere else, so he could continue watching Litterbin.

    I rolled my eyes and started walking into the kitchen, and it wasn't long before Jake was laughing at Litterbin again. I entered the kitchen and asked what was for dinner and found out it was pizza, but for some reason, it just didn't look that appetizing. I went up to "my" room, and got in bed, then looked at the clock in my room, that said that it was 7:09. It wasn't long before I was dreaming disturbing dreams.

********** I found myself in my old home in Okinawa, with my mom and dad.  I was eating dinner, which was, for some odd reason, a very bloody, very nauseating, disgusting dolphin head. My parents didn't seem to find this unusual, and asked me to cut off a part of its head and eat it.  I of course said no, and then, for no reason, they rushed at me asking if I was crazy, because they said dolphin head was my favorite dish.... In the background, my four pet parakeets howled like wolves, and stared down at me. I looked around and saw my mom enter the kitchen, then come out with a large chunk of dolphin tail, with large metal spikes sticking out of it.  She then THREW it at me, and everyone in the room, including my parakeets, started shrieking on a ear piercing pitch at me to eat the tail, but all I could do was scream bloody murder... **********

    I suddenly woke up, heart pounding, and looked at the clock by my bed stand.  12:45.  I floundered in my sweat drenched sheets, and sat up.  Still nervous from the dream, I sauntered over to the bathroom.  As I crossed from my room to the hallway, I could hear a pair of snores come from the other two bedrooms.  In the bathroom, I found a cup and filled it with water from the faucet and drank it.  Looking at myself in the mirror, I straightened some of my "bed crushed" fur on my face.  I then went back to my room and decided to go back to sleep, if I could.

********** Again in "dreamland", I found myself drifting along, in empty space, with swirls of color everywhere in the distance. In here it felt as if I were in water, but I could breath easily.  In an instance, I saw I large eye gazing at me. It moved away and I saw that this "friendly" eye had belonged to a dolphin, that now floated several meters away from me.  We were both drifting on invisible currents, in "water" I couldn't even see but feel.

    It circled me once, then again, and another dolphin appeared.  It was the size of the first dolphin, about four and a half meters.  They faced each other for sever seconds, and I could feel some sort of communication between them. They then both approached me.

    <You are human.  We request your help.  Decades ago, some of our race traveled to this universe to escape your race's pollution and domination of the waters of Earth. Now we are dying off and need your help to keep alive.> said the first dolphin, who turned out to be a male.

    I shuddered, and could "feel" the dolphin's emotions as he talked. I heard the message in a type of thought speech. I decided to respond, but before I could, the second dolphin "spoke".

    <Please help us.  If you don't, we may parish. You need to talk to the mysterious creature we call the Survivor.  It will not respond to us but it may talk to you.  It once sent out a message saying to could talk to a human.> the second dolphin said, who was a female. I looked at both of them for several more seconds and realized that they were identical in every way in their outer appearance.

    I decided to try sending my thoughts to them by thinking to them. <Help? I'm not even a dolphin. I don't even know who you are or what you're going to die from. How would I even tell Chance and Jake? I don't even belong in this dimension,> I thought to them, noting how easy it was for to do this 'thought speech', to the dolphins.

    <We are suffering from a strange creature that is multiplying in our oceans, and killing us off.  It looks like a Hungry One, but has many more spikes and has a highly deadly poison, not to mention an agility a Hungry One would never have. They chase us and kill us for no reason.  They don't speak, don't think, just consume and destroy. I am Dreamer because of my ability to send messages when dolphins or humans are in a dream state. This here is Misty, who often tags along when I send Dream Messages.  Will you help us?> asked the female dolphin, Dreamer.

    <I guess. But I'm no dolphin, and even if I were, I wouldn't know the first think about swimming or anything.  And how do I know that you aren't one of those creatures you're talking about? Oh, and when you mentioned 'Hungry Ones,' do you mean sharks?> I said.

    <Yes. Thank you for agreeing to help us. You can tell that we aren't  these creatures because they have an never satisfied hunger for life. If we had been Life Hunters, we would have never asked for your help, plus Hunters don't even have a language. The Survivor gave us a Globe that could transform a human into a dolphin and several other creatures to help on the quest. To active the Globe, you must picture it in your mind, and it will appear.  You must jump into it, than instantly you will be transformed into a dolphin. To transform into another creature, you must picture the particular creature, but that lesson is for later.> Misty responded, quickly looking at Dreamer, then at me.

    <This sounds really, uh, important but how am I supposed to find you? You two could be out in the middle of the ocean, or anywhere.> 

    <You will be able to find us because we will give you a thought-map. Meet us tomorrow, at midnight.> said Misty, who then sent a thought-image to me of a beach, several miles away from the salvage yard.

    <Okay.> I said, feeling like I just made a mistake. After a few seconds, I became determined to help these dolphins. With the message done, we just stared at each other, and eventually their images began to disappear and fade into nothingness, and so did the "place" I was in... **********

    I awoke and had a gut feeling that this mission was going to take weeks, if not months, but I would help the dolphins in any way I could. I knew that I had just accepted a mission on another world: a kat world, not a human world but it didn't really matter. I just felt like I needed to do this. Besides, the dolphins were from the human world, and there really was no reason I could find to say no.