43

As the door closed, leaving Orion in tight, inky blackness, he fought the urge to panic. Closing his eyes,
he fumbled with the controls on the ship's console to turn on the lights. It was a four man ship, with room for
two to sit in the cockpit, and for two to sleep. There was a tiny bathroom with a chemical commode, and it actually had artificial gravity.

Hyder had shown him the whole ship. The sleeping quarters were comprised of one room with two bunks. That, he could stand up in, which was bearable. Kind of like his cell back at Blackmoor's.

Of course now that he'd made that comparison, he wasn't so sure about enduring it for so long.
The bathroom was barely large enough to sit in, with antiseptic wipes, and a chemical shower. Food
was stored in the sleeping room, in a cabinet, where the unperishables were stocked. There ws a reservoir of
water that would last for two weeks if need be on the bare minimum for he and Falcon, and Orion could live
easily on a bare minimum. Falcon he would feed more. He was only a cub.

His pack and companion in the "bedroom," Orion took a big breath and opened his eyes.
Immediately, without even thinking, he began to fumble with the door handle, fighting to get out, before
mastering himself and sitting back again with his eyes close. He couldn't move! It was too small, too cramped,
he was restrained!

No...no he was just sitting down, of his own accord...and he was going to get back to Thundera.
but did he really want to? At least on plundaar he had a chance of talking to Hyder. On Thundera he
had no one.

But the incident with Blackmoor had taught him that he was no longer safe here. Blackmoor would pursue him to the ends of the planet.

With a great sigh, Orion turned on the ship. All right...got that part out of the way. Now; taking off.

Back at the edge of the hangar, Hyder had been wondering if Orion had lost his nerve, or could not
remember how to get the blasted thing on. But after a few minutes, the ship started, and began to rise clumsily
in the air.

The hyena felt a little amused as he watched Orion wobble uncertainly for a while before rising a bit
higher. He dropped a bit, then rose. Hyder laughed a little bit. Poor Orion. He always tried so hard, but there
had always been a cub-like awkwardness bout him, ever since Hyder knew him.

But finally Orion did get into the air, and seemed to be a little better once he got the hang of the ship.
Hyder waved, as the ship began to switch from takeoff to flight. "Good-bye, Orion,' he whispered. "I hope you
find what you need."

Orion had the distinct feeling that Hyder was laughing at him. Whether it was paranoia from knowing
Hyder too well, or a kind of mental bond from his friendship with him, he knew either way.

At least, he'd gotten into the air, and was now taking off. He tried waggligng the ship's wings like Hyder had done, and nearly crashed. He didn;t try again.

Orion studied and studied the star maps that Hyder had put in just in case, and could make neither heads
nor tails of it. Automatic pilot. He squinted at the piece of paper Hyder had given him, which had on it the
code he had to punch in after takeoff for the auto pilot. Carefully, he copied the numbers and letters onto the
computer's console, and then hit the autopilot button.

There was a slight shift, which made Orion nervous, and then the autopilot took over, and the stick began moving itself. Fully relieved, Orion struggled out of his seat and bolted for the bedroom.

Once there, he took great gulps of recycled air, forcing to calm himself. he had to keep an eye on the
scanners. If someone found him and tried to stop him...he would have to take over. but he could see the console from the door of the bedroom, and there he would stay.

Falcon jumped up anxiously onto Orion's leg, looking up at him. It had been such a different day for the
cub, and so much had happened lately. The violence, the fighting, the blood. he had run to where he heard Hyder and
his Skycutter when Orion was attacked, and it was this that made Hyder think something was wrong. In essence,
the cub had saved Orion's life as much as Hyder had. but he had seem little of Orion since then, and now the cat
picked Falcon up and pet him, telling him is was all right.

Falcon whimpered and nuzzled Orion's face, and then decided Orion needed a good lick down.

Orion laughed a little bit. "Hey, easy there. We're...we're gonna be all right." After a few moments he
set Falcon back down and winced, putting a hand to his side. Blackmoor had hurt him, hurt him badly. Few
broken ribs, his hand, few cracked bones, but the most damage was taken from the whip. Before Hyder had
been able tog et to Orion, Blackmoor had struck him too many times for him to have been able to keep count.
Viscous, rapid blows. Blackmoor intended to kill Orion that day, and had come very close to doing it.

Orion still hurt. but he could not take a painkiller yet, or it would make him sick. Two hours. That was
all right though, he could handle pain, and he would be home in a week.

Home. but was it really home anymore? Plundaar had, sadly, become his home. It was what he knew, what he was used to. Would he miss it?

This startling question rose in Orion's mind. Ever since the Mutant raid on his town, he had longed,
sometimes so badly that it physically hurt his chest to think about it, to go back to Thundera, to be back with his
parents. To see the sun, and the sky change from blue to orange. To see the domed buildings in the city, and
maybe even the Cats' lair. His father had taken him to see it once, which he barely remembered. he didn't even know what it looked like, only that he'd loved it.

But now? would he miss the odd orange of the Plundaarian sky? The alien perspective of the
constellations? The little red disk in the sky that was the sun, and almost looked as though you could snatch it
out of the sky and play catch with it? Would he miss the tall, willowy rubbertrees and the squat dwarf trees that
had at one point been thought to be a kind of grass? Would he miss the odd creatures and the colorful cities and
festivals?

Were there festivals in Thundera?

He just did not know. Growling at himself for having these second thoughts, he deliberately slammed
backwards into a wall, and nearly cried out at the jolt of searing pain that came with it. He was sure he'd broken
some of the not quite healed lashes open, but he didn't care. The pain cleared his mind, made him remember
exactly why he could not stay. Made him remember that the person he was the most terrified of would hunt
him down and kill him.

Panting, he closed his eyes and sat on the bunk. "All right..." he whispered. "Better now." At least he
could walk among his people without covering his face, without being terrified someone would realize he was
different.

The ship was approaching the atmosphere, now, and an indicator light flashed, just like in the
simulators. Watching carefully, chewing on his lip, Orion snapped on the tiny viewscreen and watched it
carefully. So far so good...but why was it taking so long, blast it! he was not sure he could take the tension,
waiting every second to be discovered, or shot down, or to hear an angry voice over the radio telling him he'd
better submit to being caught by their tractor beam or he'd be in trouble.

But as the seconds, then minutes passed, none of these things happened, and Orion was beginning to
think he would actually get away with this. With no identifying marks, no serial numbers, he doubted they would even give him a second glance.

He hoped.

But as the ship made it into orbit, and then into space without so much as a murmur from the patrolling
carriers, Orion nearly cried with relief. "I-i th-think we did it, falcon...' Orion said, sitting on the floor. "We're
gonna make it."

Orion was startled by some other similar personal vehicles crossing the scanners' line of sight, but they,
like him, were only leaving the planet for business or vacation. Orion wasn't sure which he was on; maybe a combination of both, but either way, they had made it.

Orion crept over to the bunk and lay down on it on his back, closing his eyes and shaking with relief.

Falcon jumped up to lie down on this convenient pillow, and Orion stroked his fur with his unbroken hand.
now that the immediate danger was over, Orion's thoughts once again strayed, but this time they were in
a much more constructive way. he was thinking of the fight with Blackmoor. He'd fought him on equal terms,
not with one in chains, the other armed. it had been face to face, adult to adult, and Orion had come damn near
close to killing Blackmoor, he was sure of this. only because of his goon squad had Orion been subdued.

And even then, he thought grimly, I did NOT submit. I did not cower in front of him and knelt only
because my legs were kicked under me. Orion smiled. He had not begged, he had not flinched. He had cried
his defiance and told Blackmoor exactly what he was; a cowardly, murdering, worthless piece of dung that didn't deserve to live.

Orion was not naive enough to think that this might be enough to keep Blackmoor out of his hair. It
would not make the jackal respect him. if anything, Blackmoor hated Orion even more, and that was another
reason he could not stay. But it was good for Orion's spirit, his heart, his will. Yes. And that was enough.

He did not realize that he had fallen asleep, but he had been wakened by a dream where Hyder did not
come, that the Skycutter did not come tearing through the woods to scatter the guards and give him
opportunity to escape. in this dream Blackmoor kept hitting him, hitting him until just like before he began to
scream, and began to beg for it to stop.

But Blackmoor did not stop. He struck, and struck, until Orion's mind ws nothing but a haze of pain and
blood...and he was getting smaller. Smaller, and he could feel the cold metal of shackles wrapping around his
hands and feet, smell the familiar smells of the slave discipline room, hear the screams of Hyder beside him...

Orion had wakened screaming. Falcon, startled out of his wits, had also wakened, and run around the
room a few times in frightened confusion.

The Thunderian looked wildly around the little room. Bunks...a cupboard... A dream. It had been a
dream... his entire life had been turned upside down once more, that was to be expected.

Wiping tears and sweat from his face, he went over to the water tap and poured himself a glass and
Falcon a bowl, and tried to calm his jazzed nerves. It was only a dream.

Once he was calm, Orion poked his head into the cockpit to see what might be on the little viewscreen.
nothing, for now. The planet of PLundaar receded in the distance, and Orion's face broke out into a smile that
was both sad and excited. He was finally going back to Thundera...but he was leaving the life he knew. he was
scared.

But it was a good fear. he was scared of the unknown, of what might happen once he was back on
Thundera. He was nervous about a change. A good change, but a big change. This kind o fear he didn't mind.

"Come on, Falcon, let's get something to eat."

But as the hours passed, Orion began to get restless. He saw it was late enough to be able to take his
painkillers and did so, washing them down with a drink that was made from water and fruit juices. he had a
hardy stock of that too, which was good. He would not need as much water, and could give more to Falcon,
who couldn't drink the fruit juice. It would make him sick. he looked through the supplies that Hyder had
given him and was pleasantly surprised at the variety of things he had given him. Thanking Hyder silently, and
hoping that he would see him again alive and well, Orion shut the cabinet door.

Now what? Orion tried to sit down and read (or rather painfully sound out) the hyena books, and even
took a stab at the one that Hintracrii had given him, and frowned. There had only been one photo in this book;
now there were two. One was Hintracrii, the other Hyder as a child, even younger than Orion remembered him.
Hyder must have put it in there. Biting his lip, fighting a sudden longing to be a child again with Hyder
next to him in this ship, he turned it over to see if he had written on his as well. He had not, but upon further
searching found a letter written on parchment.

Slowly he read aloud;

Dear Orion,

I hope you're not mad at me for looking through your stuff, but I kinda had no choice.
They're all paranoid here about hidden weapons and spies and stuff, and it's procedure. Talk about paranoid.
but anyway, I saw the picture and read it, and remembered when you were sent there. I figured I would do the
same thing.

This is a picture of me from about three months before my former master sold me to
Blackmoor. I told you a bit about him; he was a decent man, and kind to me. As close to a father as I ever had.

I ran into him a few months after we escaped, I told you that, didn't I? He was visiting
family on Plundaar. He gave me this picture, which he had kept with him. I was kind of flattered. I told him
what we'd gone through, and he was horrified, said he never would have sold me to Blackmoor if he'd known.
he's the kind that will someday realize how wrong slavery is and stamp it out.

Someday.

Anyway, by the time you see this I hope you're happily situated on Thundera, watching
them retrieve bras in scavenger hunts.

If Orion was not much mistaken, the picture had been wet a tiny bit on the back there, and Orion strongly suspected Hyder had cried when he wrote this. Orion felt like doing it himself.

And if not yet...well hang on, you'll get there. you always did bounce back, and I
admired your courage more than you can know. you'll do fine on Thundera, and save me a bunk...'cause when I can, I am coming down to see how you've done.

Take care, hektii...I will always remember you, and love you like a brother.

Hyder.

Orion bit his lip and looked down. Frowning, he saw there was yet another picture, and gasped.
"T-Tamarin..." On further inspection, he saw that this one was computer generated, and read the back. There
was a brief note saying that he had gotten into Blackmoor's computer system and grabbed the picture; he had
files on all his slaves. Orion and Hyder's were there too, and Orion recognized the "wanted" poster pictures,
and had to laugh. It was a bit of an irony, he thought.

Smiling, he placed the carefully back into the pages of the book, and put it away in his pack. "I...I'm
gonna try and get some rest, Falcon," he told the cub. "You be good." Falcon did remind him of Hyder, natrually...had the same tendency to calm him down when he needed it too, for that matter.

And he lay down.

The days passed, and Orion's optimistic mood swung from being hopeful to a feeling of trepidation.
What if the Mutants had control of Thundera? But no, Hyder said they hadn't even really fought for five years;
it was more like a cold war. What if they didn't let him land? But then why wouldn't they?

And then there was the lack of things to do, the inability to run, or to climb, things he often did in the
woods when he was feeling tense. Anything but little bitty rooms, closing in all around him.

"No!" he'd growled aloud once, startling both him and Falcon, "Stop thinking like that, damn it, you'll go crazy." And he had gone to try and sleep once more.

But the ship, now in deeper space, was able to go faster, and the auto pilot did carry its passengers ever
closer to Thundera. one day when he got up, not knowing if it was day or night from the chronometer on the
console, Orion's eyes widened. "Look! Falcon look!" What had been a dot too small to be noticed, not even as
it grew while the other dots did not, was a tennis ball sized circle that could only be Thundera. "I-it's...it's
Thundera..." now, close enough to see it, he actually braved the cramped cockpit long enough to gaze at the
orange-ish ball, biting his lip. So close...he could see his home! Something that had almost been just a myth for
so long, right here in front of him!

An excitement greater almost than he could stand coursed through his mind, and he hugged the hyena
cub when he jumped into Orion's lap.

Once he began noticing the planet, he noticed it grew steadily bigger, and bigger. In a couple of days,
they would be there.

Chapter 44

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