Totally awake, I sat up and looked at my bed stand clock. 5:56. I went into the hallway and glanced in the direction of the two kat's bedrooms. Both were sleeping, so I went down to their kitchen and looked for breakfast.

    After breakfast, I went into the hanger, and into the F-15's room.  Standing away from the Eagle, I pictured a large black globe with streaks of white, black and blue, with my eyes closed. The Globe in my mind, was about two feet in radius and slightly organic. Keeping the picture in my mind, I opened my eyes to see exactly what I was thinking of, right in front of me. It had appeared with not a sound, and hovered in front of me, a half  meter away. Overjoyed, I reached out a paw to touch the Globe with its swirling colors. Putting a hand on it, I felt a shocking but not painful sensation creep up my arm and engulf me for a second or two. When I pulled my hand back, the image of Dreamer came back to me, and so did the powerful sense of warning. I was about to see if hawk was in the Globe's inventory of creatures, when a wave of disorientation washed over me. I fainted shortly after.

    Reawakening, I got up and entered the garage. Jake was working on some kat's car and Chance was nowhere in sight. I said hi to Jake and told him I already had breakfast, also wanting to talk about the dream, but I felt that it wasn't the right time. The idea of using the Globe to morph was almost more than I could bear. The excitement of a mission was very interesting, more than getting flying lessons, though that was an adventure in itself.  Since Chance and Jake had tight schedules to keep up with, it would be some time before they would get time to get to really check out my jet and get to the core of air maneuvers.

    I left the room, and let the day drift along, sleeping most of it away, until about 5:00. Jake was cooking all of us dinner and I was just dying to tell them about Dreamer and Misty. Finally, not able to keep this secret any longer, I just started gabbing bits and pieces of information and kept on talking until both Chance and Jake were staring at me.

    "Whoa, slow down. Start from the beginning. You're gonna believe this dream you had last night, from some dolphins?" Jake said, his voice full of disbelief, sarcasm and wonder.

    "They need my help. The sent a dream-message to me and told me about the Life Hunters! Then they thought-spoke to me about a creature called the Survivor. It would speak to a human, but no one else. I think this is real, BECAUSE it is real. I need to leave tonight and I don't know when I'll be back. They told me about the object they call the Globe, and I SUMMONED it. It was incredible..... I know that this may sound impossible, but it is true." I declared, hoping that they'd believe me.

    "If that's true, then these creatures possess powers that no one ever knew of. Why don't they just take of these "Life Hunters" themselves, then? Hm... well come to think of it, I never really saw a dolphin with the urge to kill before... If  you're going, then you'll need our help; you don't really have any weapons, and we have a sub and---" Jake started.

    "No, I'm doing this mission alone. I know you've done a huge favor to give me somewhere to live and all that, but this is a mission that I have to do by myself... I wish it wasn't, but it is. I don't like the idea of doing this and I know I'm taking a huge risk, but they asked me. They asked me to go out alone... I'll be leaving at midnight, so I'll need to get some sleep. It's going to be a long night... When I get to the beach... Gees... I just thought of this, could you, give me a ride? I don't know how far the beach is away from here, it could be miles," I said, hoping I didn't sound to desperate or unsure of myself.

    "I hope you know what you're doing, Conrad. This could be practical suicide. All right, we'll let you go, but please be careful, and be back as soon as possible." Chance replied, as he turned to put dinner on the table.

    I nodded and we ate dinner in heavy and uncomfortable silence. I left as soon as I was done, and made a beeline for my room.  When I got there, I paused for a moment to say a quick prayer, and then drifted off into sleep. Soon I would be in the ocean, where I was going to spend lots of time.....

********* Again in my "dreamland," I found myself on a beach, with the sun just a few minutes from slipping below the horizon. It was peaceful and no one was around, and only the soft noise of the waves and wind penetrated the silence. Palm trees jutted out of the ground every here and there, and there were steep cliffs just behind the beach, and some cliffs going past the beach out aways into the ocean. It was a serene setting and very desolate; I knew I wasn't near civilization. I walked forward, not caring where I was going but just enjoying the beach and the feel of it. I finally sat down and stared into the ocean, where the sun was turning the water different shades of blue, orange, pink and other colors. When I looked out further in the sea, I saw sleek shapes sliding in and out of the water. They were blurry because they were really far out, but I was determined to "talk" to them.

    <Hello! Can you hear me?> I called, thinking "towards" the dolphins.

    <Hello, dolphins!> I tried again, not sure of what to call them.

    <We hear you..... Meet us at the beach tonight..... We are Dreamer and Misty, with friends.... we felt you use the Globe, be warned, do not touch the Globe unless you are using it to morph!> Dreamer said.

    <Thank you for the warning. Nice setting. I'm coming, solo. What is our first objective?> I asked.

    <To teach you how to BE a dolphin. Then to strengthen up your skills and be able to defend yourself. After that, we will have to take you to Tetrala Pad. After they finish teaching you what you need to know, you will go to the Survivor. It will tell us what to do from here. It is almost midnight, see you on the beach, we'll contact you when you arrive, tell your friends that you must go alone.... Your first morph will be....... unsettling. When the Survivor gives us the knowledge on how to exterminate the Life Hunters, your mission will be complete.> Misty thought spoke, as the pod slowly headed towards the shallow water of the beach.

    I hoped they knew what they were doing, I was taking a huge risk in accepting this mission, but hey, why not, my life was already screwed. <OK, I'll see you there.>

    The pod was quickly advancing towards shore and I went to the tip of the beach where the waves were gently washing on the shore. I waved in the direction I had seen them, then, all of the sudden, everything disappeared. ********

    I was awake again, and my heart was hammering like crazy. It was ten minutes to twelve, and I instantly jumped out of my bed and ran into the hallway.

    "Chance, Jake it's ten to twelve, wake up!!!!!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.

    "CONRAD!!!!!" the responded in unison, "we know."

    I followed them into the hanger and waited by the Turbo Kat. They changed into their flight suits and then we were off, heading for the beach in the TurboKat. It was a five minute flight with lots of turbulence and I was glad to be out on the beach. Finally, ready to leave, I paused, unsure of what to say to them.  I looked at the ground, then at the Swat Kats.

    "Thanks. I might not live to see you again... Thanks for giving me somewhere to live." I said, the wind dying down as I spoke. It seemed to me that, in moments like this, nature became quiet, as if also wanting to hear what was to be said.

    The Swat Kats themselves seemed to had trouble finding words to say good bye, but finally Razor spoke up, "Hey, what you're doing is really brave. Leaving to fight with someone else in their battles, leaving, not knowing what's out there. I know you'll come back." Razor paused again, looked at T-Bone then at me again.

    "Yeah, you can make it. Just get out there and kick tail. Look, you managed to stay alive in that jet of yours even though you didn't know how to fly it. If you can live through that, you can live through this. Good luck-!!!" T-Bone started.

    "And good hunting!!!! Oh, by the way, we have hidden a communicator in that cave by the beach, you'll be able to find it when your mission's done, then contact us." Razor finished.

    "Thanks a lot. I'll be back..... I hope. If I get back, I will make sure to tell you the entire story. I guess I'll be seeing you. Bye, you guys. See you 'round." I said, waving to them as they took off. 

    The jet disappeared into the dark night sky, and I was alone. I walked down the beach and listened to the waves as they washed upon the beach. I continued walking for some time, until I started to feel the edge of worry cross into my mind. I hoped doubt wouldn't come next, but I couldn't seem to find the dolphins. I looked in the direction of the sea, but I didn't see anything. It was very dark and with just a couple of lights in the distance, I could hardly see out to sea. I called once, out into the night to the dolphins using my voice, and all I got back in return was the wind. I called again, using thought-speech, and still received no answer.

    Finally, starting to get a little mad at the dolphins' absences, I called out again, finally receiving an answer. <Sorry it took so long, we were waiting for Misty to get off patrol duty. We are here now. You must morph quickly, there is much we need to tell you. First, step about waist high into the water, picture the Globe and the dolphin morph, then dive into the Globe. You will feel a prickly sensation and then the morph will be complete. The one you have is an advanced morph, a 'fighter dolphin' it is dubbed by most. As time passes, you will find out why. One advantage you will have is the ability to use your sonar in other ways regular dolphins can't, but that's not for us to say, Tetrala Pod will teach you. Are you ready to morph now?> asked Dreamer.

    <As ready as I'll even be. Okay, I'm in..... waist deep water, this is freezing like crazy and by the way, and I've got the dolphin and Globe pictures in my mind. Okay, I'll  be diving into the Globe. uh.... give me a second.... ok, just steadying myself, the water is really pushing me back and forth. OK, JUMPING, wahhhhhhhhh!!!!!!> I screamed.

    I launched into the Globe and one minute I wasn't seeing anything, and the next my world was filled with the blues, blacks and whites of the Globe. The prickly sensation Dreamer had mentioned  started up my arm, and filled my body. I glanced at my right paw, and I watched it disappear as it became shorter, lost its fur and became a flipper. After than change, the feeling in my legs disappeared, they had shriveled up and been absorbed into my tail. I looked around, and I could feel my fur disappearing. Somewhere on my back, a dorsal fin was growing, and I could feel a pulling sensation as it finally grew to its full size. Finally, after several more changes, like the weird sensation of not being able to breath, then gaining it back, the morph was complete and the background instantly disappeared and I dropped face first into the water. All this had taken about 30 seconds, and just like that, all my doubts and fears disappeared.

    I pumped my tail up and down, racing through the water at about thirty miles an hour, and found that this was as natural to me as walking. After a few minutes, the feeling of needing to breath became insistent. Approached the surface of the water, and raised my head above it. I had to quickly search my mind on how to open my blowhole then breath and close it. I finally did it and took in a huge breath, closed my blow hole and submerged. It was a weird feeling, breathing though a blow hole and having to 'think' about it. I looked around and swam into deeper waters; with my dolphin's vision I could only see several meters in front of me. I had to find the others.

    <Hello? Dreamer, Misty where are you?> It hadn't occurred to me just then I could use echo location. In a second, I heard the sounds of dolphins approaching. Sleek shapes raced around me, twisting and turning with agility and grace. They finally calmed down and we swam together.

    <How was it? Morphing and then taking in your first breath?> Dreamer asked.

    <It was weird. This feeling of being a dolphin is incredible. Being able to survive here is cool. This is like another world. A whole new world. The way I swim, it feels as if nothing is out of my reach, and it's I don't know... it's different. You have depth. I know that it's nothing compared to another dolphin, but then, how many people get to be dolphins?> I said.

    <Yes, how many do? Have you used echo location yet. No? Well, it'll come naturally.> Dreamer responded.

    <Really? That's cool. Where are we heading? Back to your family?> I asked, while twisting onto my back and swimming upside down.

    <Yes, we're a small pod, just five members: me, my brother, my mom, and my younger sister and Misty. We use to have seven members, until we were attacked one night... It's a personal story... I don't want to talk about it...> Dreamer thought-spoke, with disappointment in her voice.

    <We'll be there soon. When we arrive, we will sleep. This will also come naturally, but when we 'sleep' we will still be half awake. If you have read articles on us written by your species, you should know all about our sleeping habits.> Misty commented, trying to get off the topic of his family's unfortunate past.

    <OK. Great, we sleep then I get to learn about being a dolphin.> I said. I concentrated on the distance, and then fired out a burst of sound, an instant later, I saw a full picture of what was ahead, coming back in waves of sound. It was like seeing everything without seeing at all. I could see every crevice and rock formation in front of me---  these images appeared for about five seconds, and faded out, but were kept clear in my mind so that I could easily avoid any objects in my way.

    <You fired a echo location burst!> Misty said in surprise. He turned his head towards me for a moment then we all continued swimming in peace.

    We reached the pod without further conversing, and that was fine with me, because I wanted to take this all in: I was a dolphin in this 'other world' and I had no idea what I was in for. I wondered if they could tell this, but kept it to myself. Dreamer and Misty all of the sudden dashed ahead and I fired another burst of sound and found two shapes ahead of us. I then surfaced for air, and submerged again. After that, I raced off to catch up with the twin dolphins and meet the two new ones.