42

It was fifteen minutes later when the Skycutter landed, and Orion slumped to the ground, his endurance
at an end. He opened his eyes once to see a grouping of buildings that reminded his tired mind of Blackmoor's
complex and felt a surge of panic go through his mind. Had Blackmoor captured him again? All he felt was
pain; it was entirely possible. Had he dreamed it? Maybe he'd dreamed escaping, maybe he was still there.

In a haze of pain, Orion blacked out.
When next he came to himself, he had no idea whatsoever where he was, or when it was, or even how
old he was. his mind was confused and dazed. The last thing he remembered was going into some kind of shock and passing out. He did not even remember why.

Orion opened his eyes and found that he was lying, unbound, in a medium size room with five beds
interspersed throughout it. He was lying on the sixth, Theree were cabinets and counters, and drawers. After a
moment, he realized it was an infirmary, clean and comfortable.

He looked down at himself, and saw the angry bruises on his skin from Blackmoor's fist, and the
bandaging where Blackmoor's spiked boot had dug into his gut. For that matter, the bandages covered nearly his
whole torso, nearly, and his legs.

Falcon! Where was he? Orion sat up abruptly, and a wave of nausea and pain overcame him, and he
blacked out once more.

When next he opened his eyes, the pain had subsided a great deal, and he felt drowsy. this time he was
not alone; Hyder sat in a chair in the room with Falcon lying at his side on the floor. When Hyder saw that
Orion was awake, he smiled and stood up. "We worried about you," he said. "The medic saw you sit up then
pass out again and called me...you've been out cold again for nearly a day now."

Dazed, Orion said nothing.

"They gave you a painkiller once they established that you were stablized...you feeling a lot of pain right
now?"

Consideriong, Orion shook his head, and very very slowly sat up. "N-no..." he said. "I..I'm drowsy, is
all." he looked down at his splinted hand. "Who tended...where am I?"

"Well...remember the organization i told you about? The one that's trying to change some things around
here?" Hyder said. Orion nodded. "This is where we base ourselves. For now we've got to keep ourselves hidden, and those of us in the military need to hide our activities very carefully."

"The...military base?" Orion was confused.

"No, no, no. No way. This is the rebel base." Hyder grinned. "Not that we're actually rebelling yet, but still."

Others...others knew he was here? Orion eyes widened as it dawned on him, and he turned to Hyder. "Who knows...who knows who I am?" he asked, a note of panic in his voice.

"Easy, 'Rion...easy. It's all right, there's No one here that would turn you in. Most of us were
slaves at one point or another." Orion's expression relaxed. "And besides," he added in a low tone, smiling
grimly. "I don't think Blackmoor's in any condition to chase you down right now. If he doesn't die from the
beating you gave him, and that knife wound...he's gonna be a while recovering."

"The beating..." Orion looked confused for a moment, trying to force his stressed kind to remember
what Hyder was talking about, and then, slowly, remembered his berzerker attack on Blackmoor, how he'd hit
him until he felt he couldn't do it anymore. he looked amazed. "I...I did that..."

Hyder nodded. "Oh, yeah."

Orion looked up t Hyder, suddenly remembering everything that had happened. "You...you saved my ass
yet again, Hyder," he said to his older friend. "I...I don't; know how to thank—"

Hyder held up a hand. "Forget it...are you kidding, Orion? It was worth it to take my potshots at those
sadistic bastards." Hyder growled and slammed his fist into his other hand. "And to see you beating the shit out
of Blackmoor, to see the blood coming from his mouth." He turned his fierce grin on Orion. "If the others knew about what you did, they'd give you a standing ovation."

Orion smiled, and then nodded. "Well thanks anyway, Hyder." he looked up, suddenly sad. "I'll never
forget you, you know."

Hyder also became serious and drew his friend into a careful embrace. "And I won't forget you, hektii.
Never."

Orion closed his eyes at the old word, which Hyder had spoken only once...but Orion and Hyder had
never forgotten it. It was a word spoken rom the heart, and words like that only needed to be spoken once to
remain in the memory.

"Get some rest, Orion. I'll check up on you later...I'm sure that Falcon will keep you company. I'd advise against letting him jump on you when hew akes though." he chuckled, and left the room.

Orion spent the next two days recovering long enough for Orion to be able to walk around on his own.
Hyder came in and talked with him while the medics checked Orion's' bandages and disinfected his wounds.
He hated that, as all he could think of was Monkrion scrubbing viscously at the whip lashes with the harsh disinfectant...but the painkiller held the pain at bay.

On the fourth day, after a day of unconsciousness and two of recovery, Hyder came in looking grim.

"I'm surprised. They're looking for you still in the city, Orion...and even elsewhere. I guess Blackmoor was too
important a figure to be messing so badly with...and they know that there's a Mutant helping you."

"Is he dead?" Orion said, sounding hopeful.

Hyder shook his head. "I don't know...I can't find out anything about him. He's not still there, but that's
about all I know. We need to get you off the planet though. Today's the last day that I have off, but there are
some people here who can teach you how to fly the ship while I am not here. I'll be coming every day after I'm
off duty, though.

Orion bit his lip.

"You well enough to come start learning?"

Orion nodded, carefully sliding off the bed. Once out of the bed sheets, he remembered that he was nude.

Hyder chuckled and tossed him a spare set of overalls from one of the closets. They were light and comfortable.
"Put these on. You'll blend in title better and your other clothing was ripped up."

Orion nodded, carefully putting the clothing on and wincing when he got it on all the way. Clothing...

"Where's my pack?" he asked, Hyder. Was it still in the clearing?"

"It's in the ship, I grabbed it before we left...come on, I'll show you it."

With a trace of the eagerness he and Hyder used to feel when going out to look for new parts and seeing
some neat new vehicle or another, Orion followed Hyder to the hangar.

As the hyena had said, it was nothing fancy, but it had been fixed up, and was ready to be driven.

And Orion was ready to learn.

Over the next few days, Orionw as given a crash course in flying. he was taught how to use the radio
and the automatic pilot, which would take care of most of the journey. He was taught to take off, and how to
land, practicing in a simulator they had on base, that could be programmed with any kind of ship they needed.
Orion had had a problem with the little thing, but had forced himself inside, knowing how imperative it was for
him to learn how to fly.

He'd healed a great deal in that time, and only his worst injuries and his hand were still bandaged. The
medics had given him a paper with instructions on how to check and change his bandages, in terms simple enough for Orion to read easily.

Finally, he had learned all that they could teach him in so short a time...and he was ready to take off.

With Falcon, Orion's pack, and a full stock of supplies board ship, Orion and Hyder stood alone in eh
hangar, looking at each other. Orion looked down at the ground. "Well.." he said, biting his lip.
Hyder nodded. "Yeah."

Theree was an uncomfortable silence as each tried to think of something to say, to say goodbye to his
best friend. "I..." Orion stammered. "I guess it's time to go." it was nighttime, better to not be seen in the
atmosphere. The top of the hangar was opened, and the stars shone in the sky. The sounds outside reminded
Orion of when he and Hyder had simply sat in the rare times when they had the leisure and just watched the stars, dreaming of being anywhere but Plundaar, until the taskmasters yelled for them to get the hell inside.

"I guess so," Hyder whispered and drew Orion close.

Not able to help it any longer, Orion wept quietly as he embraced the Mutant, and wondered if he would
ever see him again. "I'll never forget you, Hyder," he whispered, not letting go. Hyder didn't seem to want him
to, either. "Never. You're the only reason that I did not lose my mind all those years. You were the only
one I could completely trust, with anything."

Orion could tell that Hyder was crying, too, as he nodded his head. "Same here, Orion...same here." he
pulled away finally and looked at his friend. "We went through hell together, Orion, and we helped each other
through it. I can't forget that."

Orion nodded.

"Please...be careful. All right?" Hyder went on. "I don't think I could stand it if I found out you'd been
shot down."

Orion nodded shakily. "I will, Hyder, I swear. You too. I-I mean...don't go getting caught and killed or
anything..."

"I won't. You'd...you better go, all right, Orion? if you don't...it's just gonna get harder and harder to
go." he sighed. "And for me to let you."

Orion nodded and turned around slowly to get into the ship, and turned once more to look at his friend
one more time before he left.

"I'll look you up, Orion, count on it."

The Thunderian nodded, waved...and closed the door.

Chapter 43

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