Before Sammy was kidnapped, the Kats in Cairo began looking over what they could do almost immediately. For the most part, the mission was fairly standard. They learned where the epicenter of the of the outbreak was and how it spread. General Heroud asked repeated questions on what local Egyptian officials had done, and for the most part they had evacuated as many as they could and began to ring the city with command posts. The thing that gave him the most frustration was that the Egyptians had quite willingly used a lot of heavy weaponry.
"They are naked and mating with complete strangers!" an Egyptian army officer answered firmly, "Allah DEMANDS morality and we shall enforce that morality!"
"This is a disease, sir, it is not any sort of religious violation..." General Heroud answered, "Once these Kats get their minds back they will respond and largely live the way they did before."
"This from the General who killed at least twenty of these demon "Kats" in the Paris outbreak?" the Egyptian demanded.
"Those that were killed were attacking my soldiers and had killed others," General Heroud answered, "I did not send my soldiers in just to kill them."
The Egyptian only groaned as a pair of American and English officers came forward. As General Heroud turned to them, the Egyptian moved off. As he did so, Sally came forward curiously.
"Troubles?" Sally asked.
"Mostly with dealing with people who spend most of their time being hyper religious," General Heroud answered, "and given that the outbreak started over protests over what their government was doing... the Egyptians are also looking at it as a "crush the rebels" mentality..."
"Thankfully they will go along with the UN," the British officer spoke up, "and just to report General, we do have enough darts that we might be able to vaccinate the Kats there and we do have some supplies of the Justin Vaccine as well..."
"How many Egyptians got the Justin Vaccine?" General Heroud asked.
"About twenty percent of the country," the American office spoke, "and most of them have addresses in Cairo or Alexandria."
Sally only sighed at how things were going. The Justin Vaccine was proven to be capable of preventing humans from becoming Kats, and it did spread rapidly, and data that the new Chakat Industries got did give the indication that all of Europe was now immune to virus... or at least mostly, due to close contact between members of the European Union and NATO and the various other international agencies that had European members and this was combined with the decision to take or get the vaccine after the Paris outbreak. Parts of the US and Africa also got the Justin Vaccine and it was spreading there, but slowly... mostly as many people in Africa could afford the Justin Vaccine and many in America were spending too much time following basic rules of good hygiene which then reduced the effectiveness of the way the Justin Vaccine was designed to work, but from what Maurice and Snowy had commented that the Justin Vaccine was gradually spreading.
"We've got to find someway to vaccinate them quicker..." Sally sighed.
"That would only work with the Justin Vaccine and that would mean using it as a chemical weapon," General Heroud sighed, "and even if it saves people...no one will respond well to that."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Talia meanwhile remained close to Midnight as they looked toward the capital city of Egypt.
"Thank you for staying with me," Midnight spoke to hir.
"It is no problem," Talia answered, "I find you quite brave and quite clever... brave for leaving your home and facing things that scare you and clever for figuring out my riddle."
"I wish my parents would see it that way... even Luna really doesn't want me here," Midnight said with a sigh.
Talia glanced to the young Wolfkat and saw her connection to the adult Wolfkat and the Chakat Sally as well as with another Chakat, who looked heavily pregnant and was being cuddled by several Chakat children that were younger than Midnight.
"Your adoptive parents and your sither love you very much," Talia answered, "You have no idea how much they would hurt if something bad happened to you."
"I know, but..." Midnight began.
Talia looked to the young Wolfkat and patted the back of hir torso.
"Don't be in too much of a rush to grow up," Talia said softly, giving a weak smile that Midnight thought looked like a best friend or a loving Aunt, "When you eventually grow old you'll wonder where your youth went."
Midnight didn't really say anything and then tilted an ear and turned to see hir sister approaching with a Dingokat walking with hir.
"I'd like to thank you for helping us," Luna said to Talia.
"It is of no problem," Talia answered.
"What are you up to Luna?" Midnight asked.
"Lia and I are going to Alexandria," Luna answered, "You guys should be okay to handle things in Cairo and Lia called hir family..."
"And they're in Alexandria?" Talia answered.
"Yes," Lia spoke, "I want to explain to them what happened to me in Sydney and Luna has agreed to come along with me."
"Can I be a flower gurl?" Midnight asked.
"Midnight!" Luna said blushing, "we haven't even started dating yet!"
"Your sither wants you to be happy," Talia commented, "be joyous in that."
"I am," Luna answered slowly, "I love hir very much... and that's why I've come here to you..."
"You wish me to keep hir safe?" Talia asked.
"Yes," Luna nodded and then rubbed Midnight's head, "so shi can be my flower gurl or maybe the Kat of Honor."
"I will do my best," Talia answered.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The move into Cairo started with sunrise. Sally and Snowy were both surprised to learn that General Heroud had left in the night, apparently due to another outbreak, this time in Hong Kong. They were greeted by the British and American officers who were running the UN mission in Egypt in response to the Cairo outbreak. Sally, Talia, Snowy, and Midnight all sat on their haunches as the two officers gave their report on what to do.
"We did get the Foxkat Vaccine darts to the Egyptian infantry, so we should be able to get the Kats in Cairo under control," the British officer announced, "and we've also got a large shipment of the Justin Vaccine coming in. We'll start giving it to any human still in Cairo that they didn't evacuate as well as a major drive with the Justin Vaccine in the rest of the country."
"Just remember, if someone is already infected, the Justin Vaccine will have no affect," Snowy warned, "if they're already infected, they will become Kats and will need the Foxkat Vaccine."
The American officer nodded, "Of course, but once we get things under control... which we've needed your help for since the Kats seem to ignore fellow Kats... that should be easy."
The other Kats nodded.
"Our infantry will go in and dart them as we go," the British officer then continued, "if they respond with lethal force, we might have to use lethal force in response, but that will only be as a defensive measure."
"In the meantime... Ms. Snow..." the American officer began.
"Snowy," Snowy answered.
"Snowy," the American officer said slowly, sounding a little annoyed at having to use a nickname, "You and..."
"Sally," Sally spoke when shi noticed the American officer's attention on hir.
"Sally... you two are to go to Tahrir Square," the American officer spoke, "dart as many as you can, but your prime objective is to find whatever our mysterious terrorist used in the bomb that started this outbreak."
Sally and Snowy nodded and then turned to Midnight. Sally approached first and hugged the Wolfkat, "Be careful Midnight."
"I will protect hir, do not worry," Talia promised, "Shi can ride on my back."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Shortly after, Midnight clung to Talia's back as shi flew over the city. Both had dart guns and with the Foxkat Vaccine, and Midnight knew that this would be the air support for the mission, and as the Kats were vaccinated, the outbreak would follow the same pattern as had happened in other areas. Much of the city might not be spared the transformation, but they'd at least contain its spread.
"Are you ready?" Talia asked, "We'll need to move quickly."
"As ready as I will be," Midnight answered.
"Then here we go," Talia spoke and began to dive down.