Breaking the Code

Loyalty

Chapter Six

Pumyra let out a sigh of relief as the landing struts of the Feliner made contact with the landing bay. The journey from Third Earth had been difficult, not least because the usual array of space traffic and clutter seemed to have doubled since she had last made the trip to New Thundera. All of which had been made worse by the stolid silence of her travelling companion.

Throughout the journey, Tygra had been acting stranger than usual. He had carried out the course corrections she had requested and nothing more. Small talk was out of the question. She had managed to elicit a half-hearted grunt from him when she had asked if he was glad to be returning to Thundera and that was it. This behaviour from anyone else might have offended, but she was well used to his ways by now. It was no longer a surprise when he failed to answer her communicator signals or forgot to turn up for an invitation to dinner at the Tower. She had a whole list of reasons why he was not available when Thundera tried to contact him. What troubled her more was that she just accepted it and no longer bothered to ask him why.

"Shut up," he suddenly growled.

Startled from her thoughts, she turned to look at him. "What's that you say, Tygra?"

"Nothing," he muttered and fell silent once more. But she had caught his deep intake of breath and his almost visible effort to bring whatever was troubling him under control. She prayed that he would make it through their time here without incident.

"Well, now, I wonder where everybody is," she said, descending from the ship. Not that she expected a response. After her time on Third Earth of late, she had become quite proficient at handling a decent conversation alone. It was convincing herself she wasn't going mad that was the difficult part.

"I know what it is," she murmured to herself. "They must be busy with the peace delegation. I noticed that we followed their ship in." She heard the sluggish footsteps of her companion behind her, and looked to where he had stopped and was now staring blankly into space. "Even so," she said a little louder, hoping to distract him back to reality, "I thought that someone would be here to greet us."

It worked, for Tygra shook his head and looked about him in confusion, like someone waking from a deep sleep. "Shouldn't we be setting off?" he said. "The message said that we had to return to Thundera immediately."

Pumyra moved to his side and gently patted his arm. "We're on Thundera, my friend. We arrived a few minutes ago."

"So we did," he said, pulling himself together. "Where is everyone?"

"We've covered this already," she said with a weary smile. "I think we have to find them for ourselves." She slipped her arm through his and guided him towards the hangar door. Before they could reach it, the door opened and Bengali entered. He stopped dead when he saw them, his eyes flicking from their faces to their entwined arms and coming to the obvious, if erroneous, conclusion. An awkward moment passed in which neither knew what to say to each other. Pumyra removed her arm from Tygra's and tried assiduously to avoid Bengali's questioning gaze.

"So you made it," he said at last.

"Yes," she said curtly. "What's happening?"

"You ask me that?" he shot back accusingly.

Pumyra sighed. He wasn't going to make this easy. "The reason why we were called back here."

A flush of embarrassment coloured his pale cheeks. "Oh, that. I don't know."

"What d'you mean, you don't know? You live here, don't you?"

"Not all the time, since you ask. I get sent to the back of beyond where I don't cause offence."

Pumyra pursed her lips and tried to contain her annoyance, but weeks of pent-up frustration refused to be set aside so easily. "Oh, spare me!" she suddenly snapped. "What is it with you? Why can't you admit that you made a mistake?"

Bengali shook his head. "Pumyra, please, wait," he began.

"I haven't travelled halfway across the galaxy to listen to your pathetic lies, Bengali."

"I've never lied to you, Pumyra."

"There you go again."

"Stop this," he said in voice bordering on pleading. "Please, let me explain what happened."

"You had your chance," she retorted. "You could have come to Third Earth. You didn't have to wait until now."

"I tried, believe me, I tried, but every time my request was turned down."

"Oh, really? The next thing you'll be telling me is that the communicator was out of action too."

"No, but I wanted to talk to you in person. Let me explain now."

Pumyra held up her hand and pushed past him. "The time has passed, Bengali."

"So it has," he said bitterly. "And you soon found someone else."

She turned back to him with blazing eyes and clenched fists. "You don't know anything about me! When will you get it through your thick head? I hate you. It's as simple as that. There doesn't have to be anyone else to make me hate you more than I do now. I hope she was worth it!"

"There was no she," Bengali protested. "It was a mistake, Pumyra. If only you would let me explain."

He hesitated, for Tygra had started to groan and was clutching at his head. "Go away," he was saying. "Just go away!"

"What's wrong with him?" Bengali asked, giving him an uncertain glance.

"He's not well," Pumyra said, returning to his side. "Tygra, are you all right?"

"I can't go back to Thundera," he murmured. "I've got things to do in the lab. Can't just walk away and leave them. You go, Pumyra. Tell them I'm busy."

"Tygra, we are on Thundera."

"Can't be," he said, growing pale at the very thought of such a thing. "I have to get back."

"No, you can't, not yet. We were summoned here, remember?"

He stared into the distance, his eyes narrowing as he fought to regain the elusive memory. "Yes, we received a message from the Royal Flagship, didn't we?" he said slowly. "Yes, now I remember."

"Sure you do," Pumyra said. "Okay, let's go find the others."

Bengali nodded down the corridor. "There's some kind of reception going on. Everyone's gathered in the Entrance Chamber."

"Good, then that's where we're headed," she said. Taking Tygra's arm, she guided him out of the door. It was going to be a long night, she thought, no doubt about it.

***************

Panthro took another sip of his drink and let his gaze wander over the crowd milling about the room. Some shindig this promised to be, he thought. It seemed like every noble, minor dignitary and official had been summoned to celebrate the sealing of the peace treaty between Thundera and Plun-darr.

"Who'd have thought it?" he murmured, not for the first time that evening.

"Yeah, real Berbil ale," said WilyKat. He took a long swig from his glass and smacked his lips appreciatively. "You can almost taste Third Earth."

Panthro smiled indulgently at the teenager by his side. "Actually, I meant the peace treaty."

"Oh, that. Well, it ain't gonna last."

"Isn't going to last," Panthro corrected him.

"See, you agree," WilyKat said, giving him a cheeky grin.

Before Panthro could answer, he caught sight of Cheetara weaving her way through the crowd towards where they stood. From the expression on her face, he gathered that her mood had not improved. Since Lion-O had left, she had been acting oddly. He would have described it as nervousness about the peace meeting, but, having questioned her about her sixth sense, he knew it wasn't that. Something else was deeply troubling her. Whatever it was had made her unusually elusive over the past five days, to the extent where she had missed Thundercat meetings, which, he had to admit, Jagaro hadn't handled too badly at all. He knew she had been spending a fair amount of time with Snarf, but other than that, he hadn't seen her about much. In fact, now he thought about it, he was sure she hadn't actually left the Lair for some time now, not since WilyKit had told him about the incident in the marketplace. No one, however, could ignore a royal decree and, if Lion-O said that they had to attend this party, then attend they would. Panthro guessed that not much else could have drawn her out.

"You look beautiful, Cheetara," he said, when she finally joined them.

"Do I?" she said, self-consciously smoothing down non-existent creases in the shimmering fabric of her sleeveless orange dress. "I feel a little exposed."

"Nonsense, you look good enough to eat. WilyKat, get our friend a drink." The cub nodded and disappeared into the crowd. "Well, here we are," he said, gazing idly at the crowd. "Who'd have thought it?"

"Who indeed," Cheetara murmured. "Do we know the terms yet?"

Panthro nodded. "Liodella gave us a rough outline of what it's all about. She said Lion-O would flesh out the details when he got back."

"And they are?"

"You might know if you'd attended the meeting."

"Yes, sorry, I was with Snarf."

Another lie, he noted. She seemed to be getting too proficient in the art of deception lately, and he pulled her up on it. "Actually, Cheetara, I know for a fact that you weren't, because Snarf had Bengali bring him downstairs to hear what Liodella had to say." He put his glass down on a nearby table and took her by the arms. There was a haunted look in the eyes she lifted to meet his. "Come on, what's happening? I know something's up."

"You'll say I'm paranoid."

"Me? As if I would."

She was on the verge of confiding in him, but then a trumpet sounded. Panthro glanced in its direction, towards the balcony that ran across the rear of the hall. When the fanfare died down, Lion-O strode quickly across it, his expression tight. In his wake trailed the House Leaders. To his consternation, he noted how each of them scanned the gathering below until their eyes finally settled on him and Cheetara. He didn't need a sixth sense to tell him that something was afoot, especially not when Vex paused on the balcony and indicated that he wanted to speak to him. His attention was elsewhere, but he still caught the small intake of breath from his companion. He shot her a quick glance to see that her gaze was fixed upon the balcony where only one figure remained. From the black mane shot through with streaks of white, Divine Mistress Jageena was always recognisable. Her eyes lit upon him, feeling the weight of his stare, and her eyebrows twitched with amusement. The smile never faded from her lips as she turned and followed the other Leaders.

When she had disappeared from view, Cheetara swallowed heavily and put a trembling hand to her brow. "I think I'll go and get a drink," she said, and started away before Panthro could stop her.

From the other direction, WilyKat emerged from the crowd, proudly bearing a glass. "Where's Cheetara?" he asked.

"Went to get herself a drink."

WilyKat's face dropped. "I wasn't gone that long."

Panthro gave him a pat on the back. "Don't sweat it, kid. Cheetara's not herself at the moment." He glanced in the direction she had gone, only to spot two familiar faces coming towards him. "Well, I'll be a monkey's uncle," he murmured. "Look who's here."

"Hi, Panthro," Pumyra said, as she came over with Tygra on her arm. "Could someone get Tygra a drink? He's not feeling too well. We had quite a ride getting here."

"Here, have this one," WilyKat said, offering her the spare glass.

Tygra stood frozen, as though he had been turned to stone. Pumyra took the glass and forced it into his hands. "Drink it," she urged. "You'll feel better."

When he made no sign that he had heard her, she gently pushed his hands up to his mouth. Panthro watched with concern as she practically had to force him to drink. Tygra coughed slightly as the liquid burnt his throat and wiped his mouth.

"No matter where I go, I can't get away from that blasted berry juice," he said. The eyes he lifted were bright. Whatever had dulled his wits had passed. "Panthro, my old friend," he said, holding out his hand. "It's been too long."

"So it has," Panthro said cautiously, shaking the offered hand.

"I meant to get back to you about those projects you sent over. Sorry, I've just been so busy."

Panthro felt WilyKat's eyes on him and guessed what the cub was thinking. "That's what we thought," he said. "What was wrong just now?"

Tygra gave him a blank look. "I don't understand."

"You were very spaced out," said WilyKat.

"Was I?" He hesitated for a minute, clearly trying to put together a convincing answer. "I took something before we left. Because of the journey. A sedative, that's it. Must have taken too much. I feel much better now."

"Right," Panthro said slowly, giving him an uncertain glance before his gaze fell on Pumyra. She looked as though she knew something, but was keeping quiet. "That true, Pumyra?"

"You doubt me?" Tygra said.

"Just checking," he said diplomatically. "Making sure you haven't been got at."

Tygra visibly bristled. "I find your tone insulting."

"And I find your lies insulting."

"You're accusing me of what exactly?"

"Thundercat Panthro." The deep voice interrupted their conversation, and Panthro turned to see who had demanded his attention. A burly panther, one of Vex's attendants, stood waiting respectfully at his side. "Leader Vex would like a word with you."

"About?" he said.

The other panther looked a little awkward. "A private matter."

"I'll see him later. I've got this party to deal with first."

"No, he wishes to see you now." He lowered his voice, as if fearing the crowd might catch his words. "It concerns the peace treaty."

Panthro sighed. "All right, I'm coming." He handed WilyKat his empty glass and gave Tygra a final reproving look. "This isn't over."

"I think it is," he replied.

His tone was icy, but Panthro wasn't to be put off so easily. "We'll discuss this later," he said. "I'll be back after I find out what Vex wants."

"We wait with bated breath," Tygra said dryly.

Leaving them, Panthro followed the other panther through the crowd and into one of the corridors leading to the ceremonial heart of the Lair. The massive doors of the Hall of Gathering, emblazoned with their Thundercat insignia, loomed up ahead, but, before reaching them, the panther veered off into a side room. Inside, Leader Vex was pacing up and down, stopping only when he saw Panthro.

"Cousin," he said. "It is good to see you."

"Same here," Panthro said. "What's this all about?"

Vex took an uneasy breath. "It concerns the peace, Panthro. I wanted to prepare you for what must come. I know you have a temper." He gave a snort of laughter. "A characteristic of our family. But I need you to be calm and uphold our honour in these difficult times."

"What's happening, Vex?" he asked warily. "Come on, spit it out. You've got me imagining all sorts of things."

Vex slowly uncurled a rolled up sheet of parchment he had been holding and held it out to Panthro. "You might want to sit down first," he said.

"To hell with that. What is this?"

"The terms of the peace settlement between Thundera and Plun-darr."

"Just tell me," Panthro said. "You know I can't stand all that flowery language."

"I'd rather you read it," Vex insisted. "Section Five, in particular."

Panthro took the offered parchment and let his eye run down it. Section Five was at the very bottom, and he almost hesitated to read it. When he did, at first it didn't make any sense. The meaning of 'Thundercats' and 'Third Earth' were clear enough, but there was another word that didn't seem to fit. He read it again and again, each time arriving at the same horrifying conclusion.

"We're to be divested?" he said hoarsely. Vex nodded. For a moment, he was speechless. He could feel his mouth working but nothing came out. In the silence, Vex finally spoke.

"It was a non-negotiable condition that the Mutants laid down. You have Saturnus to thank that it was not much worse."

The mention of the lion's name was too much to bear. Panthro lost all self-control and let out a mighty roar of rage. "I knew he would be behind this!" he yelled. Vex held up his hands for calm, but he was having none of it. "How dare you do this! You think you can strip me of my Thundercat status just to satisfy some Mutant whim? Well, I'll show them!"

"You will not," said Vex. "You will comply with the terms of the treaty. The good of Thundera demands it."

"'The good of Thundera'," he snorted. "That's all I've been concerned with my whole life. I think Thundera owes me something. A little respect for a start."

"The respect you have, and the thanks of a grateful nation. But this the three of you must do."

"The three?" Panthro echoed. "It says here 'Thundercats on Third Earth'."

"It also says 'fully-invested at this date'."

"So?"

"The three who joined you, the commoners," Vex explained. "They were never approved by their House Leaders and so cannot be considered fully-invested Thundercats. Snarfs of course could never hold such a title, and the twins are underage so they too are discounted."

"What?" Panthro spluttered. "That never worried anyone on Third Earth! They were ready to kill us all, approved or not! Don't you dare make that distinction now."

"It is for their own good. Lord Lion-O was keen to minimise the losses."

"Oh, was he really? I want to speak to him."

"I'm afraid not. He is with the Mutant Leaders."

Panthro stared at him for a moment, as the awful truth slowly dawned on him. "That's why they're here, isn't it? To see us divested."

"That too was a requirement."

"No," he murmured. "No, this isn't right. He can't do this to us. Let me speak to Lion-O."

Vex came over to him, reaching out to put a consoling hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry," he said. "I know how much your Thundercat status meant to you."

Panthro shook him aside. "No, Vex, you have no idea," he growled. "Anyway, that's not the point. I would give it up willingly tomorrow if I thought it would do Thundera some good. But to be divested, stripped like a despicable traitor, with the Mutants in attendance? No, that's not right. Well, I'm not going to stand by and let it happen, to me or my friends."

Before Vex could stop him, he was out of the room and heading towards the Hall of Gathering. The doors crashed open under his anger, making the occupants of the chamber look in his direction. He was vaguely aware of a group of startled Mutants on his left and the House Leaders to the right, but his gaze was fixed on the dais at the end of the room on which stood the only person who could put this situation right. It was a mistake, of course it was. Seeing him, Lion-O hurried down the steps and came towards him, his hands held up for calm.

"What is this?" Panthro demanded, gesturing to the treaty he still held in his hand.

Lion-O bowed his head. "Yes, I'm sorry."

"No, don't be sorry. Say this isn't happening."

"It is. I'm sorry. It had to be done."

Panthro stared at him, shaking his head in disbelief. But Lion-O did not contradict him. The stark reality of the situation finally hit him. His mind reeled, but his body felt weak. He suddenly felt very old. Slowly, his arms dropped down by his sides. The effort of holding them up was just too much. He could only stare in stupefaction at Lion-O, seeing someone he no longer recognised. The child, clamouring for his attention, had become the inexperienced youth in the blink of an eye and still he had needed him. Now, he was a king and the dependency was over. Nothing would be the same after this.

"Why?" he asked. "Why have you done this?"

"The Mutants demanded it. Without it, there would have been no peace treaty."

Panthro swallowed heavily. "You don't know what you're doing, Lion-O," he said.

"I know only too well what I'm doing," he replied. "Don't you think having to do this tears me apart?"

"And what of Cheetara and Tygra? Have you thought what this will do to them?"

"Of course I did," Lion-O said. "This all could have been much worse."

"Worse? How could anything be worse than this?"

"They wanted you as their prisoners. They would have killed you."

"They could have tried." Panthro sighed, knowing that all the arguing in the world wasn't going to change what had to happen. "So what now?"

Lion-O couldn't bear to meet his eyes. "I need your insignia," he said quietly. He held out his hand, waiting. Panthro gave him a look of defiance. "If you don't give it to me, the guards have been instructed to take it from you."

"I don't believe you just said that," Panthro said. "That you would order that?"

"No, I didn't. But Vex was anticipating, well, shall we say, some resistance."

"Damn right he was." For a moment, he looked beyond Lion-O to where the Mutants stood. From the expressions on their faces, they were clearly relishing this. Slithe, in particular, was grinning broadly. He had always promised to bring the Thundercats down and, in the end, it had required only minimal effort. All the Thundranium cannons in the world were as nothing compared to the scheming of the politicians. He couldn't help thinking that the reptilian's triumph was complete.

"If I don't go along with this," he said, "what then?"

"Then the peace treaty is over," said Lion-O.

Panthro grunted. "The good of majority prevails as ever. Who am I to deny the people peace?"

Slowly and very deliberately, he took the insignia from his belt. Before he handed it over, he took a moment to inspect it, burning its feel and image into his mind. It had served him well over the years and he hoped that he had been a faithful servant, upholding all that this shiny disc of red and black stood for. Placing it in Lion-O's hand, he had to force his fingers to relinquish it. It was the hardest thing he had ever had to do. Harder than facing Mumm-ra, or Lunatacs, or any number of demons and villains who had tried their hand against the Thundercats. Harder than the loss of his love, or his people, or his planet. It was more than just an insignia. It was a way of life, a certainty of death, a bond of friendship, a lifetime of memories. He had just handed over a part of his life, and already he grieved for its loss.

"That it?" he said.

"Not quite," said Lion-O.

"What now?"

A hearty cackle came from Slithe's direction. "We want your weapon, yes!" he smirked.

"Drop dead!" growled Panthro.

"You first," Slithe returned. "Watch yourself, panther. You haven't got that preciousss Sword of Omensss to come to your defence any more. Let's see how brave you are without it, yesss!"

Panthro snarled and started towards the reptilian. Lion-O tried to hold him back and finally they came to a halt some yards from the gathering of Mutants. "Let me go!" he roared.

"No," said Lion-O. "He's not worth it."

"He never was."

"Less so now. Panthro, I'm sorry, but I have to ask you to do this."

He shook his head and sighed. "Blast it all, Lion-O, you ask too much."

Giving up his nunchucks was harder still. He owed his life many times over to the armourer who had poured his skill into their crafting. Their weight was slight, belying the burden of responsibility that rested in them. Given to him in a time of uncertainty and now taken away when the world should have been so much more settled. The irony was almost unbearable.

He tossed them in Slithe's direction and watched with satisfaction as the reptilian jumped out of their way. "Enjoy it while you can, Mutant," he said. "I'll be back for them, you can count on that."

Slithe scowled. "You don't scare me. I'm still waiting for you to grovel and apologise to usss."

Panthro grinned and held up his middle finger. "There's your apology. Spin on it, Slithe." Satisfied at the Mutant's outraged expression, he turned back to Lion-O. "Finished now?"

Lion-O nodded. "Thank you," he said. "For doing this, and for all you've done over the years."

"It was an honour and a pleasure," Panthro said. "I'll see you around."

With that, he turned and forced his trembling limbs to carry him back down the hall. Out in the corridor, he could still hear the sounds of the party, strangely at odds with the brooding atmosphere of the room he had just left. Behind him, the doors closed with a resounding thud, as if underlining the finality of his departure. He was a Thundercat no more.

The End of Loyalty, but surely Honour will survive, won't it?

To be continued!

Continued

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