17

Wolfran shook his head. This was pretty ridiculous, and he felt like a fool. There was rebellion rising up on Plundaar, rebellion against the all powerful leaders of the place. His job in this miserable prison had not been easy to get, and he was supposed to endanger that for a family legend?

The wolf Mutant walked slowly across the work yard. It was already two days late, but he hadn't gotten the opportunity, and the little leeway was all right, so he had been told.

The young man took a deep breath. Well there she was, just as the records had said. The fact that she was there eased his doubts a little bit.

Still, he seriously considered ditching the whole thing, but then he thought of his father, and even his grandfather as long as he knew him. He knew the story of the cheetah woman and one of his ancestors. It was the first and last time any of his clan had tired to court Thunderian, male or female. He remembered how adamant his grandfather had been that this deed must happen, if only to get some long sought-after vengeance, and to help that woman. But again he had his doubts. That woman was long dead, she had to be, and he didn't believe the theories of time travel. No race he ever knew of had the technology to do it.

But he loved his grandfather dearly, and knew he believed strongly that this was not simply legend. His father had been skeptical, he knew that, but urged him just the same. His father was still alive,although so old that he was on death's doorway. So it was up to him.

And still, here was a cheetah woman, just as the legend had said.

As he walked through the jail in the small Plundaarian town, he began to feel nervous. Even if it were not true, this story and task had been passed down for generations, and now it was here. He was the one. He would carry out a generations-old obligation, a legend! He felt a moment of self-doubt, hoping that he wouldn't just screw everything up.

It had taken two days to both find out if there was a cheetah there with a Snarf companion, and there had been. This Wolfran had been shocked to find. He also to find where she was--then he had to get to her.

He had gotten up a plan, and it would require some play acting he did not care to do, but it had to be done. He hoped she would understand.

"What do you want here, Wolfran?" the Reptilian asked of the wolf as he approached the work yard. It was late in the day that Cheetara had been put to work. She was tiring, but a few whacks with a skillfully wielded billy club had convinced her each time that she could run a little more.

"I have gained permission to see our Thunderian prisoner." He manufactured a convincing leer. "If you known what I mean." He gave over the slip of paper that stated this. It was real, he had gotten the permission from the head guard.

The lizard laughed. "She has to finish her time today, but afterwards she's all yours."

Wolfran nodded. "I'm gonna go see her for a minute. Let her know who her master'll be tonight." Another leer. The lizard nodded and pointed her out.

Cheetara was panting when a wolf Mutant walked up in front of her, standing on the open front of the treadmill, just beyond the moving parts, between the hand rails. She glared at him. Had Wolfran looked more like her long ago love, she would have wondered, but at this point she was in no condition to notice the slight similarities from generations back. "What do you want?" she demanded.

Trying not to feel too ashamed, he grabbed her as she walked, and held her almost viscously when she struggled. He spoke in a low voice, low enough for only her to hear. "Please forgive me, and don't let on at all. Your safety depends on this." Leering as if he were saying something crude to her, he took the piece of sturdy paper an elderly lynx had given to a wolf named Caleb so many years ago, and stuffed it down the remains of Cheetara's uniform, what she had managed to cover her top with. To the others it looked like a grope.

Cheetara squawked indignantly, but was giving the wolf an intense look.

"Trust me," Wolfran said. "You really have no other choice." Then he left, leaving the guards present to laugh at the encounter. Cheetara herself wondered.

Late that evening, after a completely exhausting day, Cheetara guzzled water from the dirty sink and collapsed on the stained mattress in her cell. Wondering if they intended to feed her or not, she first made sure no prying eyes watched her, then pulled out the slip of paper.

It was actually parchment, she realized, and when she opened it up and looked to the bottom for a signature, her eyes widened. "No, that's impossible!' she whispered. She recognized the writing as Pumyra's, and a shaky version of Lynx-O's, written from memory of how the pen went rather than sight. Even Snarfer had signed the parchment. "What in the name of Thundera,"she murmured. Her aches, pains, and fatigue were relegated to a far corner of her mind as she read what was there, her eyes growing wider and wider as she did. She began to feel a thread of hope. "Maybe we can get out of here and fix this mess..."

But then that thread of hope drained away as she realized just hard this was going to be.

She had to destroy the note. She did not want to risk someone finding it before the next couple of days were up...so she flushed it. The sewage all ran to the river anyway, by the time anyone found it, if they did, it would be too late. "How?"

"Snaaaarf!" wailed a voice, and Cheetara turned in time to see a red ball of fur flying towards her. She managed to catch Snarf before he landed painfully on the concrete, and glared at the guard that had thrown him. Graydon.

The lizard leered. "Have fun with Wolfran, pet?"

"Screw you!" Cheetara growled.

The lizard laughed unpleasantly. "Oh my, so soon? I might just take you up on that offer, my little cheetah. But not tonight, I have work to do." As Cheetara glared after the bastard, she turned to Snarf. "Are you all right? What did they do to you?"

Snarf groaned and lay down carefully. "I'm okay, just don't feel so well." The buzzard had done all manner of standard tests this first day. Nothing devastating, but tiring and made Snarf a hell of a lot sorer than he had been before. "Tomorrow he wants to test some drugs on me, snarf snarf," Snarf whined, and folded his ears down. "A-and he was bragging about some kind of super-weapon that he wants to use on Thundera...I-I mean New Thundera!" Snarf wailed. "I mean I know it's in the future, and there's no one there I'd know, but those are our people! They already wiped out my race!"

Cheetara sighed and sat next to him, laying a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I know...I know. Snarf, listen to me, listen." In hushed tones, she told him of the note and of what they had to try to do. "Maybe if we can pull this off, we'll be out of this horrible place." Suddenly she gasped. "Snarf! This...this weapon...where is it ?"

"The buzzard's? I-It's in the prison somewhere. All his lab stuff is here."

"Snarf. Tomorrow he's bringing you in in the morning, right?" Snarf nodded. "Convince him to bring me in there with you. Use some kind of sly technique that would make him think it a good idea. Can you do that?"

Understanding dawned in Snarf's eyes. "I got ya. Yes I think I can manage it, Cheetara...but...we're not gonna use it on Thundera, are we?"

"No! Of course not. There are many uninhabited planets in this system. If we choose one far enough away, hopefully it won't affect anyone else. And if this works like Lynx-O believes it might, none of this would have happened."

Snarf nodded and slumped back. "I sure hope this is over soon."

"So do I, Snarf. So do I." With that, she rolled over to sleep.

***

"Lynx-O, look behind you! Behind you! I mean not look, but watch out! I mean--"

Long before Snarfer finished his well meaning but bumbled attempt at warning, Lynx-O spun and crouched, this instinctive move paying off, as he avoided having his head smashed in by a jackal's club. He aimed the light shield at his noisy, clumsy form. The jackal went down with a cry, his hand clutching at his nether regions.

"Ooooo," Snarfer said, wincing. Only three of the Mutants were down, and one of those was getting back up. Although the two ThunderCats were holding up all right, they were tiring. Snarfer was no fighter, but he'd have to get into it soon, it looked like. He was good with weapons, at least in the Tower of Omens.

The young Snarf jumped down from his hiding place and leapt on one of the fallen Mutants, grabbing his stun pistol. He pulled the trigger and was happy to see one of the fighting Mutants go down.

"Ahhh!" There was a cry of pain from Pumyra as she sprawled on the floor, a large seared area on her side. She growled and kicked into the gut of the one responsible.

Lynx-O also yelped as he was struck a glancing blow on the head, but the tide was slowly turning. As soon as Snarfer joined the fray, they had a chance.

Lynx-O couched, half sensing, half hearing an attack from two sides at once. He leapt and let them collide with one another, then took them out while they still recovered. He had bruised himself a few times, striking something in the unfamiliar room, but he was holding up all right.

Pumyra took out three at once with her sling, and Snarfer zapped them all with the stunner to make sure they stayed out.

Soon, all ten Mutants, plus the ones outside, were out for the count. A little battered and a lot tired, the three Thunderians, at Lynx-O suggestion, put them in the airlock and left the outside door open. They would not kill them, but when they took off, they would make sure they fell out.

Snarfer was able to figure out the controls to the Plundaarian ship, and took the helm, tilting the ship first to dump their unwanted Mutant cargo, then blasting off. Those outside had fired on them, even tried to tractor them in, but it was a powerful ship, and easy enough to man in an emergency; they had little trouble once the inside crew was defeated.

"What now?" Snarfer asked.

Lynx-O tiredly sat down. "Full speed ahead to Thundera."

Part 16

Part 18

Table of Contents
ThunderCat Stories Page
Main Page