Looking for Gap

But Ely had heard. Several decades ago, Deli Island was a base for animal development and research. Although the research sounds not as big as the one on Tinjil Island—it is located east of Deli Island. Perhaps, the Uncia uncia before her now was part of it all. Or, remnants of it.

Who knows? Ellie thought.

"Snow Leopard, huh?"

Ely kept her gun under her clothes. For the first time, the little girl smiled since the tragedy at Mount Kerinci. Aldi might be amazed by the smile that has two dimples.

"Hey, sweetie. Come on… Come here!"

The snow leopard was probably still young. The best estimate in Ely's mind as it was only six or seven months old. The cub that was crawling on the table was not as white as its ancestors. The white color on its body had turned yellowish, even on some sides so grubby.

Ely held the cub, holding it gently in her arms. What became a big question mark in Ely's head was the fact that the big cat was still alive.

These days, this is impossible. Where did the two mechanics get this cub from? What's more, the snow leopard cub was quite fat. That means, the two mechanics have not made this cub as their food yet.

"Oops, wait a minute!" she thought of one thing.

Ellie looked around. Checked every cupboard in the room, even every boxy thing. But Ely didn't find what she was looking for. Ely came out of the room, continued her steps to another room.

"Surprise!" Ellie smiled.

In the room, there was another snow leopard cub which Ely was sure was the twin in her arms. However, that's just a bonus. The real quest was for the abundant food in the same room.

Ellie chuckled. The cub who was chewing food on the floor got up and approached her. The snow leopard cub asked for the same treatment from Ely as its twin.

If these snow leopard cubs weren't eaten yet—even with their chubby bodies—you couldn't help but, the two mechanics who doubled as bounty hunters must have had an abundant supply of food. Ely was sure of it, and she found it.

But, to carry all that food at once seemed impossible. Apart from feeling unable, Ely also didn't want to let go of the cubs in her arms. So, the little girl came out of the room to meet Aldi downstairs.

A pair of thick eyebrows on Aldi's facelifted high. Where did that damn brat get snow leopard cubs from?

"What makes you smile like that?" Aldi said while continuing his efforts to install a new windshield that he found in the workshop area.

Since Aldi can't do that, it looks like he's just adjusting the position of the protector. Nothing more.

"Are you crazy or what?"

"I found a lot of food upstairs," said Ely indifferently and then climbed the chameleon just like that.

Ely sat in the back seat with two snow leopard cubs.

Annoyed that he didn't understand how to install the shield, Aldi threw the windshield away. And his annoyance was getting bigger because he knew exactly what Ely meant just now.

"You damn brat!" Aldi grumbled as he turned around and headed for the room that Ely meant. "You're just giving me trouble!"

"Just remember!" said Ely without looking away, "Your share is only one-third. I'm pretty generous, aren't I?"

Aldi snorted loudly, what's more, Ely deliberately made an annoying smile in Aldi's eyes.

"Damn you!"

***

Ryan and his friends drove fast in their respective vehicles, they were heading to the Sidamulih area—still under the authority of the Pangandaran Government. It is approximately twenty kilometers from where Ryan and his friends departed from Tanjung Sodonglandak if they had to go by land.

But that's too long and riskier. The Pangandaran Government's tight control is the biggest risk of all. It's better if the ones blocking are humans, what they're worried about are humanoid robots. So, choosing the sea route at night is certainly better, and can arrive faster.

Ryan sat in the back seat of the chameleon driven by Cinnong. Naomi rides with Boris, while Yuma rides the chameleon alone.

"Why did you take so long?" said Boris.

Ryan chuckled in response to Boris' sarcasm. Their communication is only through the intermediary earphones in their respective ears. But Ryan didn't care, he kept fiddling with the C-Pad in his hand.

This afternoon, Ryan had managed to sneak a spy into Dharma's device—even Ryan was able to infiltrate the network of the Pangandaran Lord—and of course, that way, Ryan could surf freely into the network in the hands of Dharma's wife or his daughter.

Ryan is indeed able to find out where Dharma's residence is, but what makes it difficult for him is the GPS position of the gadget in the hands of Dharma's wife always moves. This led Ryan to believe that the captain's wife and daughter had been taken by the ruler's men.

"Patience, man!" Ryan said a moment later. "They are on their way. Coincidentally, they crossed the sea route, heading towards us. Hey, Yuma!"

"Yo?" Yuma said in the last row.

"It's better to use PSG. I don't want to invite other parties," Ryan said. "You guys understand?"

Three heads nodded, so did Cinnong. This girl from the Land of Mid-Celebes glanced briefly at Ryan behind her.

"Yan. I think you'd better tell Mr. Dharma about all this."

'Yeah, I thought so too," Ryan said.

"We might be able to take control of the spaceship," said Naomi, "if you can convince Mr. Dharma, and have him on our side."

"Don't underestimate me?" Ryan laughed softly.

Of course, Ryan thought. Indeed, their goal at first was to bring down the spacecraft. So, why not just control it? That sounds a lot better for their survival.

And Ryan, it only takes a 'little touch' to master the spaceship network, with the help of the ship's captain, for sure.

"All right," Ryan muttered as he opened his communication channel with Dharma.

While Ryan was calling Captain Dharma, Yuma spurred his chameleon ahead of the other two. The Papuan descent acted to protect the chameleon that Cinnong was driving. In the back seat of his chameleon, Yuma brought with him heavyweight weapons.

Naomi deactivated her PSG guard, setting the gun to maximum voltage.

"No mercy for government dogs," Naomi smirked. Well, this is indeed better. Moreover, if you have to face one or two robots.

For a moment, Ryan took a deep breath looking at the C-Pad screen in his hand.

Beep!

TO BE CONTINUED ...