54

"This...this is really...it's really bad, Orion," Jaguarin said. He looked very shaken, and Orion felt about the same way.

"I know," he said in a low tone.

They had little time to say anything else, because the mayor then addressed the town once more. "I would advise that everyone proceeded now, in an orderly fashion, to the warrior's guild. There you will get your number. Note! Parents with young children, they will have to be measured, because if they are small enough to fit in the capsule with a mother or a father, they will be put in with a parent. This is both to save space, and to ensure that in the unlikely event that the ship is breached and the capsules scatter, that small children will not land somewhere alone."

The mayor held up a hand at the babble of fear that broke out. "It is a very unlikely occurrence, I repeat! And stasis capsules are made to be spaceworthy. Tests have shown in the past that they are even more so than many civilian ships. So please calm yourselves on that matter. You do, however, need to be prepared for the remote possibility of being separated from your family members. And learning some survival tactics may not be a bad idea. Now, please proceed to the warrior's guild.

"Hold on a second, jags," Orion said, and approached the mayor, as the worried crowd dispersed. "Sir?"

Looking distracted, the puma looked down to Orion. "What is it, son?"

"Well, I likely know more about survival in hostile lands better than almost anyone in the village. If you like, I can try and teach some kind of class in survival. I know there are hunters in the village also, maybe they would be willing to do the same?"

The mayor paused, and then smiled. "Son, that's an excellent idea. I'm aware of where you live, I'll contact you once things get a bit more organized."

Orion smiled.

At the warrior's guild, as Jaguarin, his family, and Orion got their tickets, they were all very silent. The other Thunderians weren't saying much, either, and only quiet inquiries here and there could be heard. Orion saw a family with two parents, an aunt, two older siblings and about six little ones trying to figure out how all six of the little ones would be provided for if they were to separate. There weren't enough adults that could take a child with them in their capsule. Finally, one of their neighbors stood forward and said that he would take one of them. Orion sighed in relief.

As he got his own number and put it in his pocket, he noticed that two of the vandals that had profanes his home were there, and both were giving him the evil eye. He looked at them coolly for a moment then turned away, shaking his head. Even now, they couldn't let their stupid prejudices die.

A week later, everyone was told in which order the ships would be leaving. It was advised that people didn't tell any but whom they trusted what ship they were on. Orion and Jaguarin were on the same ship, and it was among the first to leave the planet.

Later that afternoon, six Thunderians met in the home of one Leodin, the man who had organized the little vandalizing project. "They're letting that miserable Plundaarian on a ship," Leodin growled. "I can't believe it."

Another man nodded his head. "Seems to me that they need to keep the position open for the loyal Thunderians."

Leodin snorted. "He's not Thunderian, Pumar. He's not Thunderian any more than that bastard General Rataro."

"So what do we do about it?" one of the woman asked.

Leodin smirked. "I saw the number on his paper. He's in one of the first ships out of here. I say we ensure that he misses his flight." His smirk turned into an unpleasant grin.

"What...you want to kill him?" one of the men spoke up with disbelief. He was the one who had small children in his family.

Leodin pounded a fist on the table. "Damned right. That pod could be used for real Thunderians. Would you want one of your family members to be left behind because some miserable traitor got their spot on a ship?"

The father frowned, standing up. "Look. Vandalizing his home is one thing. Condemning him to death is another. That goes far beyond the code of our people."

"He's not one of us!"

"No...I will not be a part of this. If you will damn yourselves, you'll do it without me." With no more said than that, he walked out.

Leodin snarled. "Fine, he is weak anyway. If anyone else wants to back out, back out now." He looked around, and after a moment, one of the women also left, leaving four.

"When do we do it?" Pumar asked, once the other two had left.

"The day before his slip leaves," Leodin said. "Well drag him deep into the woods and give him what he deserves. Then we'll leave him there for the animals. it's not like anyone will miss him."

Pumar nodded. "All right...three weeks from now?" Leodin nodded.

Blissfully unaware of this plotting, Orion and Jaguarin had gone back to Orion's home and talked...because the possibility was there that they might not see each other again for a long time once they left the planet. "I've got to talk to Hyder," Orion said. "I've got to tell him." Orion swallowed hard. He may never see his friend again, he realized.

"Will they let you?" Jaguarin asked.

"I've talked to him once since the visit. They may." Orion snorted. "Maybe I should just go to Plundaar. They're saying that there's a good chance that Plundaar will survive, and their orbit is far enough from ours that it shouldn't be too badly affected."

"Are you kidding? You'd die."

Orion chuckled. "I wasn't serious, Jaguarin. I'll take my changes with my people." He yawned. "I'm nervous, though. I will be teaching a class of sorts tomorrow...survival techniques. I'll be teaching six of them to whomever wants to attend, until I leave."

"What's to be nervous about?"

"Well...I've never taught before, jags. I'm not sure how to go about it. I mean I know how to survive, but it's hard to tell someone how."

Jaguarin smiled and clapped his friend on the shoulder. "Relax, you'll do fine. I'll be there with ya for moral support."

Orion laughed, "Thanks, Jaguarin. I'll need it."

The class was awkward, but it went well enough. Orion began with the basics: food, shelter, water, and how to build a fire. Most people were bringing along at least some survival gear, such as matches, but in case they could not use those for some reason, Orion showed them how to do these things using only what they found in the woods. He urged them to write everything down, which most did.

He taught the two-hour class in the forest itself, and was surprised that he had about fifty students from the village. He realized he had a student he hadn't expected; the father that had helped to vandalize his home. When the class ended, he seemed to want to say something to Orion, changed his mind, and turned around and left.

"Good lesson, teach," Jaguarin said with a grin.

"Thanks," Orion replied, still looking distractedly after the man. Then he shook his head. Well he wasn't going to refuse to teach him because of a petty thing like vandalism. He sank down onto a stump. "That was...scary." He smiled a bit.. "But it was kind of fun, too. And I think it took everyone's mind, including mind, off of things for a while." A minor landquake had interrupted the lesson, but people had quickly recovered.

Those happened almost every day now, and people were getting used to them. Orion noticed that buildings that were damaged in the larger quakes were left that way. They did not want to spend time on reconstructing when they'd have to leave soon anyway.

As the weeks passed, Orion had taught five classes before the vandal finally got up the courage to talk to Orion after the lesson. "Orion..." he began awkwardly. "I-I owe you an apology." He held out his hand. "What we did was stupid...not to mention violating the Code of Thundera."

Orion hesitated for a moment, then smiled a bit, taking the man's hand and shaking it. "Okay," he accepted quietly.

The man sighed. "I...need to warn you of something. The others...Leodin is talking about killing you. I don't know how serious he is, he was probably just blowing off steam. But...be on your guard, all right? Watch your back."

Orion gaped at the man as he left quickly, and stared for several seconds after he'd left.

"What's wrong?" Jaguarin asked.

In a stunned tone of voice, Orion told Jaguarin what the man had said, and then scowled, clenching his fists. "That miserable...why? Do they hate me that much because I was kidnapped as a child and put through hell? I would love for him to go through what I did, and then come back and have some jerk treat him like a rabid jackal!"

"My gods...do you think he's serious about it?"

Orion sighed, feeling suddenly very tired. "I don't know Jags. I hope I don't have to find out."

Orion had not been able to get clearance to call Plundaar. Ocedra had tried, but she said that right then there were too many thigns going on. Orion was disappointed, but he understood. There was interplanetary letter service on Thundera, but he doubted highly that it went to Plundaar, and even if it did, he doubted that anyone on Plundaar would let anyhting from Thundera pass, at least not without reading it, and that could get Hyder in trouble.

Orion hoped that once they got to their new home that he would be able to get some sort of message off to Plundaar.

When Orion's last class was over, there were only two days left before it was time to leave. He felt sorrowful as he gazed at the blue sky. He would be forced to leave Thundera once more, and this time he would never see it again. He hoped the planet they were going to had a blue sky.

Another ship had been brought to his village, this one also able to hold 200 or so people. After that, only one more smaller one would be needed to get everyone out of the town, for they were one of the smalle villages on the planet.

People had been advised not to eat anything for 24 hours before going into stasis, as it cut down the risk of bad medical reactions to the stasis gas. Falcon hadn't really understood this, of course, and Orion did not think that it would hurt to give him a bit of food and water. He himself could easily go without.

The day before the first ships would take off, Orion came back from bathing in the stream, frowning. Falcon was growling, and Orion himself felt something prickling the back of his neck. He took one step forward.

A rustle of leaves behind him, something that most village-dwellers would not have noticed, alerted Orion to the presence of someone or something behind him that shouldn't be. As he spun around to confront it., he caught a glimpse of a Thunderian face before something hard crashed against his skull. As he lost consciousness, he heard Falcon yelp sharply, then he collapsed on the ground.

Chapter 55

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