"What kind of movement?" asked Jerome's voice from the walkie-talkie. The man on the roof looked around and saw Jim and Aisha rushing down the street. The man could also see, in the distance, a boy about Jim's age. The man recongized that kid from the sweat shop.
"Hawking and that ctarl-ctarl are chasing down that John kid" reported the man.
"John was the runaway that started this mess.." said Jerome, more to himself. "have Alice and Lao attack Hawking and the ctarl-ctarl....and you go after John"


---------


Aisha could smell fear. She was smelling it now from John. As her and Jim rushed up the street, Aisha could tell John was in that "fight or flight" response that Terrans went through. Well, John was running as fast as his little Terran legs could go, which was remarkably fast for a short kid. Jim and Aisha was barely able to keep John in sight.
Jim was still giving Aisha the cold shoulder, which made Aisha sad. Jim and her had gotten along well after she first met Jim and Gene at Blue Heaven. Back in those days, Aisha would've threatened to eat Jim if Gene didn't give her infomation on the Galactic Leyline. But she never got the chance to threaten, and she would never threaten to eat Jim again. Aisha and Jim got close quickly as brother and big sister. In a few more years, their relationship could take another step...but right now, the pair were like brother and sister.
As the two rounded the corner, Aisha saw somebody shooting at Jim. Jim hadn't noticed, and Aisha was able to pick up Jim and yanked him away before the bullet hit him. The sudden movement made Jim yelp in surprise.
"Nice reflexes" said a male voice in broken English. "but then, you are a ctarl-ctarl"
Aisha and Jim looked around and saw two people standing on the opposite side of the street. The man was fairly short with long dark hair that reached to his waist. The other person was a woman with firey red hair who looked to be the man's sister.
"Who are you two?" growled Aisha.
"Allow us to introduce oursleves" said the man, crossing the street. A car honked as it approached the man on the street. The man glanced at the car and threw something at the car. A minute later, the car exploded, covering the area with smoke. The man and woman continued to walk until they were next to Jim and Aisha. Aisha had to cover her ears for the explosion. The explosion itself wasn't very big, but it did turn the car into scrap metal.
"I'm Lao Chang" said the man. "they call me 'Chang Bang'. And this is my sister, Alice, who they call 'Boom Boom' "
"Very nice names" said Jim. "now, if you don't mind.."
"But we do mind" said Alice. "that boy, John, is our property and we want him back"
"Well that's just too bad" said Aisha. "because he's with us now"
"Then why did he ran away from you?" asked Lao. "let me guess. He's afraid of the big kitten"
"I show you who's a big kitten" growled Aisha, glaring at the pair.
"You know" said Alice, looking at her brother. "we should find someplace else to fight them. The police might catch us"
"Lost your nerve?" asked Lao. "this will be over in a few minutes, that I promise you"