23

For weeks, the trio watched the arrivals of deliveries, and watched those that came to pick things up.

Food deliveries were made in the kitchen area, and were always closely guarded, with a lot of slaves working
there. The food came regularly. and frequently...it would be too difficult to try and sneak aboard. There were
random supplies and pickups, but nothing regular enough to be counted on.

But the hangars now...every week, a truck came carrying parts and partial vehicles form Blackmoor's
suppliers. And only the hangar crews worked on that, without supervision.

"It's got to be that," Tamarin said, shivering in the early winter cold. The three were huddled behind a
large stack of parts in the corner of the junkyard. They were working with Phiron, who had seen to it that they
were given time to meet. After a lot of time deciding, the three youths had confided in him., he had been
worried, and tired to talk tem out of it, but in the end recognized their need for freedom...and he said he would
do anything to help.

"Yeah," Hyder said. "It's the only one we could get onto...and we could make it one that Phiron was
working on. He could see that the others were away carrying stuff while we snuck on...and since the trucks also
take the things we don't want here away, that would give us a place to hide.

Orion was listening quietly, as he normally did. the other two knew more what they were doing, and
aside form an occasional suggestion. I hope Phiron doesn't get into trouble," he said.

Hyder laughed, "Phiron? No way. he can get out of almost anything and is a better actor than even
you.' he grinned at his young friend, hiding his own worries and fears. "Next week...no we can't then. Phiron
won't be there. But the week afterwards we'll talk to Phiron."

"It's gonna be winter," Tamarin pointed out. "We gotta think of everything."

Hyder bit his lip and thought. "We can snitch supplies...everyone, when they can, take really little
things here and there. We can keep them..." He looked the yard over. "Over there...behind the y-JV transport
treads. No one ever uses those anymore."

The others nodded at this idea, and they all stood before one of the taskmasters noticed they were not
working and got suspicious. They talked to Phiron when their shift was done, and he had gravely agreed to
help the young slaves. "Are you sure you boys won't change your minds?" he asked worriedly. "If he catches you,
you'll be hurt bad." he looked at Tamarin. "And hell kill you. Kill you, Tamarin, murder you like the coward
he is. You'll never see anyone on this Plundaar again." He wasn't being cruel, only trying to make the seriousness of the situation hit home.

Tamarin nodded. "I-I know, Phiron. But...Ii don't want to be here my whole life. I've made up my
mind."

Phiron nodded as Hyder and Orion confirmed this, and closed his eyes. "Two weeks it is, then. And I
hope you make it guys. I really do."

"You won't get in trouble will you?" Orion asked, not for the first time.

Phiron laughed and put a hand on the boy's head. "Hey I told you, stop worrying about me, kid. I can
get out of anything. All I have to do is play dumb."

"You're good at that," Tamarin snickered.

Phiron laughed and drew the older slave into a manly hug. "Hey, kid," he said, his voice low. "You take
care of yourself. I don't want to hear about your death. You got that?"

"Hey," Tamarin said, punching Phiron lightly in the shoulder. "This is me we're talking about."

Phiron snorted. "Yeah you got real far last time."

"It was a fluke...just bad timing that's all..."

The human laughed, "Go on now, kids, or you'll miss supper. Go on." His voice was friendly, but his
eyes were concerned as he watched them leave.

Over the next days, the trio was very cautious in snitching things like matches, food, and blankets when
they could. No one noticed the disappearances, as all three were extremely careful not to be seen, or take
enough to be noticed. They stashed the items n the spot that Hyder had staked out as a storage area. Thinking
ahead, Orion had managed to swipe a laundry bag when he was working there one day...they would need something to put everything in.

As the day approached, a day Tamarin had morbidly begin referring to as the Day of Doom, the three
slaves became more and more nervous. They screwed up more, forgot things. Hyder once sad that if they did
not cut it out, that they would be sent to the mines or something and not be able to try it. If they missed this
one, it had already been decided that they would try the next. But if they kept acting suspiciously, they'd be
watched.

They did manage to get a hold of themselves until finally it was there. They were working in the
hangar, watching Phiron working on a Skycutter. Even the human was edgy, and jumping at noises. "There it
is!' Hyder hissed, as he heard the truck pulling up outside. Some of the older slaves started out to work on it.
"All right, boys," Phiron said, as per usual. "Out in the workyard, you know the rules." The younger
slaves weren't allowed in the hangar during deliveries. The two boys acknowledged, and headed outside where
Tamarin already was working.

"Is it here? he asked anxiously.

Hyder nodded tersely. "Yeah...it's here. Remember...we gotta wait for Phiron to say "All clear." The
three gravitated over to their secret hiding place, retrieving their supplies on the way there. Tamarin, the
strongest of them. carried the bag. As they waited, they inched closer and closer to a corner of the fence that
was loose; they had made sure it was loose. And they listened.

Finally, they heard it. "All clear," they heard Phiron all to the driver. There was a grumbled reply, and
the three escapees crawled out of the opening, shaking in fear, looking over their shoulders lest they be spotted...

But they made it to the truck, and all was as they had planned so far. Orion had made sure the others
went in, and there were some items in the truck. Phiron held the door open just long enough for the boys to slip
n, then shut it hard, smacking the side. "You're shut!" he said to the driver, telling him that the door was secured.
the surly Mutant did not reply, only sped off.

"Behind that!" That was good. Phiron had situated an old half of a Skycutter towards the back. The
boys should be able to barely fit in, and not be seen. The crept underneath, Orion trying not to whimper aloud.
They still had to get past the gates...where they opened the truck up and looked inside. Hopefully they would
do their normal, half-hearted, bored check, and miss them.

Luck was with them. Orion froze next to Hyder, both shivering on the old metal floor as the door was
slid open. Underneath the tail of the Skycutter, Tamarin also froze, too afraid to move. But the guards at the
gate only looked over the contents, saw that there was only what was scheduled to go out, and shut the door again. Orion was so relieved he began to cry. Hyder held him as they made Their way out of the complex. This was it. If they did not make it, that was it; there was no going back now.

By previous agreement, none of them spoke. The last thing that they needed was to be caught in the
back of the truck. But the driver was oblivious, only wanting to get to the supply house and go home.

Of course the escapees needed to get off before that.

By peeking out of the back of the truck, they had been able to determine where they were. Phiron had
told them how many streets they were, and where they would be most likely not to be seen slipping form the
back of the hovertruck. And he had been right on. All three understood that this would not be possible without
the kind human slave, and all felt gratitude towards him.

"Okay..." Hyder said in the barest of whispers. "This one is it...get ready to go..."

The first time the truck stopped, Hyder rose the door just enough to crawl out of, and hoped the driver
did not hear. He, Orion and Tamarin with the bag all crawled out of the truck and hit the ground, not thinking,
Hyder let the door slam own as the retreated, and his face went deadly white. "Run!" he hissed.
Inn their panicked flight, they heard the driver curse and get out of the truck. As they ducked behind an
empty building, they heard him go around to the back and look inside. They all heard the drier grumble something about incompetent slaves and latch the door again., Then he sped off.

Tamarin closed his eyes and slumped against the wall. He let out a big breath. "We made it..."

His heart thumping so loud he thought that Blackmoor would hear it all the way back at the compound,
Hyder shook his head., "Not yet, Come on, lets get into the jungles. it'll be warmer there, and we can start a
fire...Orion are you okay?"

The youngest member of this team nodded his head, although he shook as if with the chills. He was
very cold, but these were shivers of fear, not cold. He scurried after the others.

Orion and the other spent a very tense night in the jungle three miles away form where they had ditched
the truck. But when no one came for them, they were a great deal more relieved. They'd spent the night next to
the warm fire, and when morning came, they moved on. "Wh-where do we go?" Orion asked.

"I...I don't know, Orion, didn't you say that you met some friends when you were with the lady rat?" Hyder
looked tense, scared. Orion didn't like it.

The young Thunderian bit his lip. :I don't know where they are Hyder..."

"It's all right." Tamarin's strong, confident voice made both the younger slaves feel better. "We'll find
them. But for now...let's just get away from this city."

Back at Blackmoor's compound, the three slaves' disappearance had surprisingly not been discovered until
that morning. When the taskmaster discovered it, he was very nervous, and reluctant to report it to Blackmoor.

But he finally decided he would be in deeper if he waited, and so the report was made.

When Blackmoor found out just who it was that had escaped, he was furious. Even the taskmasters were
afraid of his anger, and shied away from him. The black jackal started barking out orders, to find where they
had escaped from, which direction they took. he gave the orders to interrogate everyone, to scour the whole
place in case they were hiding somewhere.

The orders were carried out immediately, and a group of taskmasters spread out through the complex,
asking everyone what they had seen, and when the last time they saw the escapees was. The closest they got
was the hangar, here those there had said they had seen the trio in mid afternoon. This being the latest they could find of them, Blackmoor came and personally questioned the slaves and workers there.

"Well, sir, I saw them in the hangar about noon," one of them said, "Not after that though.

The taskmaster assigned to the yard was a little more helpful. "They came back when the truck left...I
kind of lost track of them after that...why, are they missing?" He had not yet heard of the escape.

Growling, Blackmoor punched him squarely in the face, leaving him holding his face in complete surprise.

"Phiron! Get over here!"

Inwardly the older slave winced, but his face showed nothing as he approached. "Yes, sir?"

"When'd you last see Orion and his miserable little comrades?"

"Hyder and Tamarin?" Phiron pretended to think, and then said, "I think it was an hour or so before the
delivery. I was too busy loading the hovertruck to keep track of them after that."

Blackmoor growled in frustration. "The miserable little jatiirken are missing...and they are not in the
compound.?

"Missing? Nothing happened to them, did it, sir?" he asked, feigning concern. it did not take much
work, he was concerned. Very concerned.

"If not, there will be something happening to them if they've tried to escape. Who was the last to see the
truck, Phiron?"

"I was sir."

Blackmoor narrowed his eyes.' "And you did not see them?"

Phiron raised a brow. "No sir, you think they hopped a truck? If so, they did not do it while it was
here."

"Did you latch the door?"

"No, sir, it makes it easier at the gate for them to—" But Phiron did not get a chance to finish the
statement. Blackmoor snarled and slammed his fist into the humans' face, Phiron staggered, putting a hand to
his face, and shook his head clear. He said nothing.

Although Blackmoor knew (or thought) it was not Phiron's fault, he was there when Blackmoor took
out his anger. "No more. From now on, you latch that door is that clear? And if you see them, you will send
them directly to me, got that? You will deliver them to my door!"

Phiron nodded, slowly standing straight up again. "Yes, sir."

But as hard as Blackmoor searched for the young escapees, he could not find them.

Hyder and the others had started to move even before dawn broke. All of them had slept poorly, always
afraid that they would be awakened by pounding feet and angry voices. Chains, maybe stunners... But it did
not happen. still, the boys wanted to move on before it could happen.

It took a long, wearisome time, but the trio did finally make it to the city's borders. They had had to
duck the authorities a few times, and each time left them all, even Tamarin, shaking in fear. but they made it,
even with the authorities and Blackmoor's men after them.

"We...we made it?" Orion said, amazed. "We got out of the city...! And Blackmoor lives on the other
side of it!" He never thought that they would make it that far.

"Hey I told you we'd make it!' Hyder said, a big grin on his face. But then he bit his lip. They'd been
able to steal supplies from the city to replace what they used...and now they had a trek ahead of them. To the
north, the city was bordered by forest. But they had not wanted to go that way, because Blackmoor's complex
was right there on the northern border. And so they had gone south, where the few scraggly trees did not
disguise the fact that they were in desert territory. "I just wish we could get the collars off. They tell anyone
that looks at us that we're slaves."

"I know. Maybe we should have gone to the north after all," Tamarin said. "We won't have any cover,
no hiding places here."

Hyder bit his lip. He'd not thought of it.

"W-well...hopefully...maybe they won't think we got this far. We should try to get into the next city..."

Orion sounded worried. "Do you know where that is?"

"I do," Hyder said. "It'll probably take about three days to get there though."

"Well we had better get moving then. We have at least three days' supplies. Come on."

To the boys' surprise, they were not apprehended as they crossed the barren desert. They were glad
they'd snitched a few blankets though, as it was very chilly at night. They really did not want to risk a fire, but
they did build one on the coldest of the three nights they were in the desert. As the fire burned, warming their
chilled faces and hands, they talked. "Hyder? What do we do when we get to the next city?" He'd been
thinking about this all day. "Do...do we just keep running away from him? O-or can we go somewhere that we
can stop running and...and be free? Or do we have to get off of Plundaar?" Thinking about this, Orion but his
lip. "I-I want to go back to Thundera."

"Can I still come with you if you do?" Hyder asked.

Orion nodded. "Yeah...you too Tamarin, if you want to."

But Tamarin shook his head. "No, hoo hoo, I don't think I'd like it on Thundera. They wouldn't like
me anyway. Hyder's just a little shit..." Hyder smacked him good naturedly, and Tamarin grinned. "They'll
accept him better. I'm too old. But I can't stay here either. Maybe I'll stow away on a transport...see where it
goes."

All three fell silent then. They knew that if that happened, they would probably never see the young
simian again. "I'd miss you," Orion said quietly after a few moments.

"Yeah..." Tamarin gave the child's shoulders an awkward squeeze. "Me too...but maybe we'd see each
other again."

After a while, the talk leaned more towards lighter subjects, and finally the trio slept.

The next day, Orion's sharp feline eyes saw something that made him grin. "The city! Hyder, it's the
city, I can see it!"

"Where?" It was only barely dawn, and dim. "I wish I could see like you do especially in the dark."

"It's there I see it. I bet we'll get there today!"

They did get there that day, and all were very happy about it. They needed supplies, and they needed
some kind of shelter. "I bet they won't know us very well here either," Hyder said.

But then Orion saw something that made his stomach feel like he had swallowed ice. "H-Hyder...look
over there." There was a smallish poster on one of the lantern poles...and it had their pictures on it! It had
photographs of all three of them on it. "What does it say?" He could only read a few words, as Hyder did not
often have opportunity to teach him.

They ringed around the pole, and Hyder gulped. I-it says we're escaped slaves," he stammered.

Tamarin growled and clenched his fists. "Hoo, it offers a reward for the one that captures us alive! So
much for not being well known." he knew most residents of the place would not hesitate to turn them in.

"Let's get somewhere off the streets then," Hyder said nervously.

The other two were only too glad to do this, and they skulked along the streets, looking for some kind
of abandoned building that was not already being used by anyone. The homeless of the city were just as bad as
the rest, and would be more inclined to try and capture them for the money.

For their first few days in the city, they did little traveling. They were too spooked by the discovery of the
wanted poster, and did not want to be out in the open long. When they did travel, it was at night, in the shadow
of the buildings.

One of these times, Orion came up with an unpleasant thought. "If there were wanted posters here," he
whispered to his companions, "That means Blackmoor was here too!"

This was something that had not occurred to any of them. But it had dampened their mood even more.

Chapter 24

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