39
Orion ran. For the next week, he retreated deeper into the jungle,
spending little time for recreation. He
slept, he hunted, he traveled; that was the extent of his activities
for the next week. The young man did not feel
safe until he was far, far away from the city, and into the jungle.
On the eighth day, he woke up and listened. Falcon was cranky
and out of sorts from the constant travel,
but today Orion did not intend to go anywhere. he was tired too,
and he knew that the cub needed to play. "Hey,'
he said wearily, looking at the cub who was awake and looking at him
reproachfully. "Don't lookk at me like
that; we're not going anywhere today. Go on and play. Go
on." He nudged the cub with his foot, then lay back
once more and relaxed.
Seeming to get the idea, Falcon ran off, happy to be able to run around
and play instead of the constant
travel.
Orion was still scared. but this far into the wilds, he felt at
home; safer. Would they look for him here?
Were they even looking for him in the first place. had enough
people seen him to be able to tell who he was?
Maybe, maybe not. they might not even bother with one person.
Maybe.
At any rate, he had the day to spend at his leisure, and fully intended
to spend most of it lunging around.
It had been a mistake, trying to get off planet, he knew this fully,
now. And how would he have done it? It
would have been difficult top sneak a full grown cat, a hyena cub,
and a large backpack onto one of those ships.
he sighed. It looked like he would live his life on Plundaar.
It was not so bad; he was free, and he was
happy. If he could just get away from the uproar, he would be
just fine.
Eventually, word got back about this Thunderian, to a certain slaver
in the western quadrant of the
planet. Seven years later, Blackmoor's businesses still flourished,
and his work complex had grown. The
restaurant had actually been taken out, as he was sick of dealing with
food service. his banquet hall stayed open
of course, for use when he had royal guests. The jorick pit and
the mines and the parts yards were still there,
with one or two added in here and there. Another use had been
discovered for the jorick ants' poisons; when
produced correctly, it made a terribly addicting, terribly dangerous
drug. It was well sought after by nearly
every shady character on Plundaar, as it made the taker think that
he could do anything. It gave a false sense of
strength and confidence. It made him a lot of money.
Blackmoor had never forgotten his escapee. he and Hyder had been
the first to ever escape from his
complex, and that irked him mightily. Things like this tarnished
a slaver's reputation. Hyder had disappeared,
and Blackmoor knew that by this point, he wouldn't find him, even if
he saw him in the streets. Hyenas looked
too similar to each other, and he would be an adult now, and likely
looked far different. But Orion, now...there
was no way that he could possibly change his appearance enough to look
like a Mutant; even a simian.
But now, there were some interesting reports coming in from hakint,
a large city on the other side of the
planet. A Thunderian had been spotted t the spaceport, apprently
trying to find out what ships were going where. and by the description,
it sounded a lot like his missing slave.
"Monkrion," he said slowly to the taskmaster one day. Monkrion
was seven years older, but as mean
and ruthless as ever.
"Yeah, boss?" he said, looking up from where he was chewing out a tardy
slave. He looked down and
shoved the slave. "Get back to work."
The slave mumbled his answer and slunk away, happy to get off without punishment.
Blackmoor smiled rather unpleasantly. The years had done little to diminish his strength or power. "Do you remember Orion?"
Monkrion thought for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah, I remmeber
him, the little Thunderian wretch,
right?" Blackmoor nodded. "What about him?"
"We may know where he is."
At this, Monkrion was silent for a moment, his brows raised. "Really..."
he said slowly, after a
moment. "Hmmmm. Where?"
"There've been reports of a Thunderian running around hakint, near the spaceports, and from the description..." Blackmoor looked significantly at his taskmaster.
"Oh! I heard about that, that's right, hoo, I didn't even think. You really think it's him?"
"Well, I don't know. It sounds like it. I want you to select
three of your people to go there and
investigate; try and get a picture of him if possible and send it through
the computer systems as a holo." He looked grim. "I';ll know
if it's him."
"You got it, sir. You want to leave right away?"
Blackmoor nodded. "As soon as possible."
Miles away from hakint, Orion was getting ready to go to sleep, on the
first day he ahd not spent running.
They had not come for him yet, he thought. but still, over the
next weeks, he wanted to get away from this part
of the planet. Maybe head for the coast. he did always
want to see the oceans and seas; he ahd never seen one.
His region of Thundera was a desert area, and all he'd know on Plundaar
was a rather dry climate where Blackmoor lived, and the forests and jungles
he'd lived in since then. Maybe a desert or two over the years.
"What do you think?' he asked Falcon as they settled down to go to sleep. He got a sleepy, rather non-committal growl from Falcon.
"Yeah that's what I thought; We'll check out the coast...see what
it's like." he lay down and closed his
eyes.
Several nights later, he was wakened a few hours after going to bed by Falcon' alarmed sounding yelp.
Waking immediately, and with his hand reaching for his dagger, Orion
sat up, listening. He frowned; it felt like
someone was watching him. Like Kwiri had taught him so long ago,
a shadow seemed to have descended on his
mind. A beast? Or a person? A eprson would be trying
to capture him, of this he was certain. "Go on," he
growled. "We're not food, go away." Often when he spoke
aloud, most creatures would run, having learned to
fear man.
And lo and behold, as he spoke, there was a rustling in the bush, and
it sounded as if there were more
than one animal retreating from it. A little relieved, Orion
sighed and ut his dagger away. "Blasted creatures,"
he grumbled, and lay back down on his blanket. he use a blanket
and another to cover with; he could never stand sleeping bags.
But still, something nagged at him. The creatures had sounded
awfully big, or maybe one exceptionally
large one. but he tried to dismiss this as being touchy about
the spaceport incident. Still, he vowed to move
on the next day.
The next morning, after breakfast, Orion and Falcon walked along the
jungle's rather clear floor. There
were enough animals that ate dead vegetation that there was not a lot
of rot on the jungle floor, and not a lot of
underbrush. Orion rather liked this kind of climate and wondered
if there was any near the coastal regions, as
he knew nothing about them.
Orion had been enjoying his walk, not in any hurry, letting Falcon pay
here and there or chase some little
animal. He never caught any, but he always had fun trying.
It was nearly noon, when Orion frowned,
stopping short, as at the same time Falcon stopped and growled softly.
They looked at each other, and once
more, Orion took his dagger in his hand. Maybe it wasn't a creature
last night...he felt it again. Someone was
watching him.
Orion was not wearing his long sleeved hooded shirt; as he rarely id
in the woods. He ws wearing a pair
of light pants, his boots, and a short sleeved, light, tan shirt.
he didn't run fast; if there was someone here, he'd
have to face them if he could.
" It is you."
The nearly whispered voice made Orion spin to the left, his dagger ready
to use. "Show
yourself," he growled. A moment later, a Mutant steeped out from
behind the trees. It was a hyena, dressed in
the garb of an off-duty military officer or soldier; Orion did not
know which. He seemed unarmed, but Orion
was taking no chances. "What do you want?" he growled.
The hyena looked sad, and took a step forward. Orion retreated
back a step. "I'm...I;m not here to turn
you in, Orion. Don't you recognize who I am?" The Mutant
extended his right hand, palm up, for Orion to look
at.
Orion's eyes widened, and he actually dropped his dagger in shock.
He looked at his own hand, the one
that Blackmoor had branded. The hyena's hand bore an identical
mark. He looked up again at the hyena's face,
looking hard. It couldn't be. After all this time wondering
about him... "Hyder?"
The Mutant smiled, drawing his hand back. "Yeah, Orion...it's me."
After a moment of shock, Orion stepped forward to draw Hyder into an
embrace. Hyder returned it,
putting his arms tightly around Orion's shoudlers for a moment.
Orion's eyes were tearing up, and he drew back
to wipe at them, embarrassed, when he saw that Hyder was also weeping
a little bit. "I...I never thought I would
see you again, Hyder. i worried that Blackmoor had gotten to
you again when we got separated." It must
have been him last night! But why ahd he not come forward then?
well, Orion supposed that he wouldn't want
to wake himself up either, knowing that people were after him.
Or did he know?
Hyder nodded. "I know. I thought the same thing for a while.
Even if he didn't get to you I worried, I
had the food we'd gotten together. After we ran into that damned
taskmaster, we took off in different direction.
I was so panicked..."
"...that you didn't notice i wasn't there until we were too far away
rom each other to find each other,"
Orion finished. Hyder nodded. "Me too."
Hyder smiled. "But a few months later, I saw the posters...so
i knew he hadn't caught you yet." he
looked Orion over. "And you seem to have done fine."
Orion looked at Hyder for a few moments more, verifying that it was
true. But then he looked down at
a nudge from Falcon. The cub looked severely confused, and kept
sniffing Hyder, trying to figure out why one
of his kind smelled sentient. Orion laughed. "He seems
to be having trouble figuring you out,' he said to Hyder.
Hyder hadn't noticed the little one until now, and he looked down.
"You found a feral one!' he said,
surprised. he crouched down to look at the little guy, extending
his hand out to him. Falcon growled, and stood
back, his fur a bit on end. Hyder chuckled. "It's all right,
I'm not some big monster thing." As Orion watched,
Falcon eventually got close enough to sniff Hyder out some more, and
finally let himself be pet.
"Yeah," Orion said, "Found him not long ago, abandoned, and caught
in one of those damned sticky
vine things that grow around on the ground. I hate those things."
Hyder stood again. "No kidding. Look, Orion...they're looking
for you, you know. That little kid that
bumped into you at the spaceport got a good look at your face before
you bolted..." He sighed. "Did you know
that Blackmoor's still looking for you?"
Orion bit his lip. "Yeah...I saw the posters, with my old picture on it from when I was thirteen."
Hyder nodded. "it's a good bet he's heard by now what happened."
"Yeah..." Orion couldn't keep the fear out of his voice.
even now, an adult, he was terrified of the slaver.
Then he turned to Hyder. "How'd you know I was here?"
"Well, the military's been notified, too. They think it possible
you're a Thunderian spy, since you had
no collar. I listened, found out which way they think you went."
He smiled a bit. "And I know how you think.
i found your campsite and followed your trail."
"So it was you last night!"
Hyder frowned. "No...I found it this morning, after you'd already
left it, and caught up with you."
Orion felt a shiver of fear go through him, and told Hyder about the
intrusion last night. "I...I guess it
was an animal."
Hyder shook his head. "I wouldn't be too sure. It could
be someone spying for Blackmoor. You'd
better not stick around too much longer."
Orion thought for a long moment, and then nodded. "Yeah...I...I
guess so." he looked back up to Hyder,
who ahd grown to be about six inches taller than Orion was in adulthood.
"You...can you stay for a while and
talk?"
Hyder grinned. "That i can do, I'm on leave for a week or so. I shouldn't be missed."
Orion nodded, glad, and set off into the jungle. They could talk
as they walked for a while. Orion
wanted to get some distance form his campsite.
They actually did not talk very much until it was getting dark, only
walked alongside each other, in
companionable silence. Each seemed lost in their own thoughts.
When it was getting too dark to go any
further, Orion asked Hyder if he would stay for a night or two, and
Hyder readily agreed. The young
Thunderian left Falcon with his friend, and went off to hunt something
down for supper. he had caught a
creature that lived in the area, resembling a deer, but he was not
sure what it was called. It was something he'd
never seen until coming to this region. He brought it back and
skinned it and set the skin out to dry, and
prepared the animal to be cooked. Hyder watched,
impressed. "You've learned a lot, I see. no wonder you've
been able to survive so well this long. I don't think I could
do that if I tried."
Orion smiled at his friend's praise. "Thanks," he said quietly.
"I wasn't so good at it first. I actually
met this jackal not long after I escaped that helped me. i thought
she was going to urn m in at first, but she didn't."
Hyder noddeed. "I'm glad that you're alive, Orion. I've
thought of you many times here and there since
we escaped. A lot in those first few months."
Orion nodded. "I know. I felt completely alone... How did you stay out of Blackmoor's grasp, anyway?"
"Well...I hid out in the cities for a while. being a Mutant, that
was easy for me to do. And most
Plundaarians think my clan all looks alike, anyway." Orion nodded.
Hyder shrugged. "That was pretty much
where I hid, in the cities. I moved here and there, so I wasn't
in the same place the whole time. I trimmed my
fur short, and got some decent clothing with my five finger discount."
He chuckled as Orion grinned; he knew
how that was! "Eventually Blackmoor stopped looking for me; he
was more interested in you. He probably
knew you'd have a more difficult time hiding."
Orion nodded, his grin gone. "Yeah. he was right, too, I've had a lot of close calls."
"Yeah. anwyays, i took on a differnet name...please don't use
my real name anywhere that can be
heard, Orion. I've changed it to Ze'ev. I traveled for
a while until I actually ended up in hakint, where I found
someone that would take me in as an apprentice. He was a mechanic,
actually, and with all the work you and I
did in those hangars...that seemed appropriate. He was a good
teacher, and I actually came to trust him enough
to let him know who I was, eventually. he chuckled and said he
understood now why I balked at calling him
my master, as many apprentices call their mentors. He was a good
man."
Orion was looking at the ground, listening to his friend's story.
he ahd had more luck that Orion had,
and he was glad of that. he only wished they could have stayed
together. "When my aprenticeship was up, I
joined the military." he grinned at Orion. "I remember
we talked about that a lo, what we would do if we were
free. I've done it. I joined the military, and told them
i was interested in being a fighter pilot." He looked at
Orion, his smile a little sad now. "You still want to be a racer?"
Orion shook his head. "No," he whispered. "I...I just want
to go home. See if my parents are alive.
See if anyone I knew in my village is still alive."
Hyder nodded, his smile gone. he put an arm around his younger friend's shoulders. "I understand, Orion."
Orion looked at Hyder, almost not wanting to ask. "Do...do you
still want to come with me?" He hoped
that Hyder would say yes. He wanted him safe on Thundera with
him...together like they had been as kids.
Hyder sighed and took his arm from Orion. "Orion..." he said,
and then let out a frustrated breath, not
sure how to say it. "I...I can't go to Thundera with you, Orion.
I have a life here now. I like my work, I love
flying. I've got responsibilities. There's a group of us
that's trying to make some changes in the Plundaarian
government...particulary slavery and poverty issues. you know
a lot of those bastards high up in the government like to keep the people
as downtrodden as possible. We're hoping to change that."
Orion bit his lip and nodded, saying nothing more on the subject for
the moment. He turned his head
and wiped at his eyes.
Hyder was quiet for a moment, before leaning against a tree and asking,
"How did you get away? i
know they were right on your tail."
"Well..." Orion got a hold of hismelf and thought back to that
terrifying day. He told Hyder about
running, them nearly close enough to catch him, then about him ducking
into the trees, desperate for a place to
hide. he told him about finding the abandoned den, and crawling
inside, how he had to force hismelf to lie still
in there for hours.
Hyder raised a brow. "You? You crawled in there, as scared as you were of being enclosed?"
Orion nodded. "Yeah...I figured that they wouldn't find me there,
or even bother to look. i was right."
he told Hyder of staying there until he felt safe to come out...about
stealing food and clothing, and about
Hintracrii. he told him about Kwiri, and of crossing the river,
another thing that Hyder was shocked at hearing.
He told Hyder about finally getting his life into some semblance of
routine, without fear, without pain
and captivity. He told him about his run-in with the king, which
Hyder was also shocked at, especially that
he did not report him. He told him about fining Falcon, who perked
up his ears at hearing his name brought up.
He told him of the events that led up to the incident in the spaceport. then he looked at Hyder to see what he thought.
Hyder put an arm around Orion and smiled, giving him a brotherly squeeze.
"I am shocked, actually,
all you went through and came through it so well. I'm proud as
hell, especially how you braved that river."
Orion smiled at Hyder, then looked down. "Thanks..."
By the time the two friend had stopped talking, it was well into the
night, and Falcon was already asleep.
Orion gave Hyder one of his blankets to sleep on, as it was a warm
night and he didn't need it to cover with.
Hyder thanked him and spread it out on the round while Orion made sure
the campfire was out. he didn't want
someone maybe seeing it while hey slept. Turning to look at Hyder
several times as he lay down, Orion finally
closed his eyes, the familiar comfort of Hyder sleeping nearby making
him feel content. he fell asleep.
The next morning, Orion and Hyder resumed their trek, and talked more
of their life and things they'd
done. Orion told him of the time he's fallen into a two-foot
deep stream and panicked, and Hyder told him of
the time that he'd run headlong into the general when he visited their
facility. Fortunately the general was a
decent sort, and only laughed. Orion told Hyder he had gotten
somewhat better at reading Plundaarian, which
made things a lot easier, and Hyder agreed.
They spent the whole day talking, and by the time night rolled around
again, they were exhausted. "I.."
Hyder sighed, then began again, "Orion, I am going to have to
go soon." Orion's expression had turned form
content to somber at this statement. "Tomorrow, probably.
I don't know how long it will take to get back to
my Skycutter, which i hid a few miles into the jungle before I set
out to look for you. And..." And here he
hesitated, trying to think things out. "I think that I can help
you get back to Thundera."
At this, Orion blinked, and turned sharply to look at Hyder. "H-how?"
"Well...do you remember anything that Phiron taught us?'
Orion nodded. "Most of it, yeah...why?"
"Well, we've got a hangar where we keep our oldest vehicles...ones that
we don't use any more down at the base. They
usually end up in the junkyards, or sold to civilians once they are
actually retired. It would not be very difficult
to get a hold of one of those older ones...some of those are seven,
eight years old." He grinned at Orion. "Yep,
brand new when we worked on them. Most need fixing and parts,
but I can do that, easy. They don't make many vehicles I can't fix."
Orion looked somewhat alarmed. "Hyder...that would get you in big trouble if you got caught."
Hyder shook his head. "Nah. im there all the time fixing
the things, getting parts from them, that kind
of thing. All I have to do is wait until I can sneak one out
from the back hangars, where they don't keep so
great a guard on them. All I have to do is get rid of any identifying
marks, and you're fine. you don't have to
register vehicles on Plundaar, the private citizens don't, anyway.
it would be days before anyone noticed it was
gone."
But Orion's face had a look of fear on it. "Hyder...I don't know how to fly!"
Hyder shook his head. "I can teach you. i have just the
ship in mind, in fact, it's simple, easy to learn,
and common. A lot of people have that model. It's about
ten years old, you probably remember working in
them a few times, the Boomerangs?" they were vaguely boomerang
shaped, not all that fast, and since they'd
ben retired, a popular space-going vehicle for citizens that could
afford them. Coming used from the military,
they were not that inexpensive.
Orion bit his lip. "H-Hyder...are you sure? If they caught you..."
Hyder grinned and capped Orion on the shoulder. "Since when could
I not get away with things if i
wanted to?"
Hyder had been pretty good at sneaking around... "Well... All right.."
"Tell you what. Walk me back to my Skycutter in the morning, it's
not close enough to the city to be a
threat. Mark that spot...and meet me there in one month exactly.
i should have been able to get everything handled by then." he smiled
at Orion. "Deal?"
"W-well...all right..."
"Hey, relax... It'll turn out fine, trust me."
And because he did trust him, Orion nodded and lay down to bed.
The next morning, neither of them said much as they headed for where
Hyder had hidden his Skycutter.
Orion ran his hand along it, smiling a it. "Haven't seen one
of these in a long time," he said to Hyder. "And it
looks a bit different...the new model, i take it,"
Hyder nodded, and grinned. "I;m one of the best pilots in the military," he said. "I should make sergeant pretty soon."
Orion's smile looked shaky, but he did smile. "I don't doubt it,
Hyder. There wasn't much you wanted
to do that you couldn't accomplish."
"Thanks, Orion... Look, I;m gonna get out of here. I have
a few days left, i want to make use of them
getting things ready. Remember, meet me here in one month exactly.
you have a way of keeping time?"
"Not a mechanical way, but I've learned to do it in my head, and my the sun and stars."
"Good enough." he hugged Orion again before climbing onto the vehicle. "Be careful, Orion."
"You too..." Orion's voice broke as he stepped backwards, picking
Falcon up so he didn't get too close
when Hyder took off. With a wave to his friend, the hyena lifted
off, heading expertly through the trees into the
sky, and waggled his wings in salute.
Orion waved back.
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