Breaking the Code

Part Two: Honour

Chapter Nine

WilyKat chewed his bottom lip as he stared absently out of the cockpit window. Growing ever larger ahead, a blue-green planet spun silently in space, framed by the faint rays of its attendant sun. The proximity indicator had sounded several minutes ago and he had responded by keying the landing sequence into the flight computer. The Feliner was set up for her approach to Third Earth and everything was going well. That did not stop him from feeling decidedly nervous. For the fifth time in as many minutes, he glanced over to where Panthro sat in the co-pilot's seat and wondered whether he dared disturb him.

An uncomfortable atmosphere had hung over the ship since they had set off. Panthro's mood had been sour all morning, and it had grown worse in the half an hour or so that they had had to wait for Cheetara. When she had finally appeared, looking like she carried all the woes of the world on her shoulders, Panthro had taken out his frustrations on her. His angry words had almost reduced her to tears, but he had been unmoved. He had taken his place in the Feliner and waited with ill-temper while his fellow travellers had settled in. They had set off in a dogged silence, which had persisted throughout the long journey. Cheetara seemed preoccupied and Panthro had spent most of the time with his eyes shut, which meant that the flight had been left entirely under WilyKat's supervision. Not that he minded; it had given him the chance to show off his piloting skills, which had recently been honed by many hours on the flight simulator. Landings, however, still made him edgy. He could feel his hands becoming sticky with sweat just thinking about it. Getting the Feliner down in one piece meant asking for help and he wasn't sure Panthro would take too kindly to the intrusion into his peace.

Reasoning that the worst he could do was to shout at him, WilyKat reached over and gently shook the slumbering panther. It took several attempts before Panthro yawned, stretched and rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

"Are we there already?" he asked.

"About five minutes away," WilyKat told him. "Do you want to fly us in?"

"Who's got us this far?"

"Well, me."

"Then you can do it. Nice and easy, kid, just like I showed you."

"But that was only in practice sessions. This is, like, for real." He turned back to the control panel and stared at it uncertainly. "I mean, what if something goes wrong? What if I get us all killed? I'll never hear the last of it."

Panthro chuckled. "Everything looks fine from where I'm sitting. What's the problem?"

"Nerves," WilyKat admitted.

"Don't fret it, kid. You're doing great. If it worries you that much, I'll keep an eye on things from over here. But don't expect me to help you too much."

"Not unless I pitch the Feliner into Firerock Mountain, you mean."

His attempt at humour passed unnoticed, for Panthro's attention was directed out of the window towards the view of Third Earth. "Certainly will miss the old place," he murmured.

"Kinda felt like home, didn't it?"

"Sure did. I could have got used to life there. My own little place somewhere, just me and my Thundertank. Perfect."

"Even with the Mutants and Mumm-ra about?"

Panthro smiled. "Well, they stopped things getting too dull."

WilyKat leant his elbows on the control board and sighed deeply. "D'you think they'll miss us?"

"Who are we talking about?"

"The people of Third Earth. Will they be all right without us?"

Panthro gave a soft grunt, showing what he thought of that. "Officially, Third Earth has been declared neutral territory, although knowing the Mutants, I don't hold out much hope that they'll keep their side of the bargain. That's why we'll be leaving the Lair in the care of the Berbils and Warrior Maidens, just in case."

"And Thundera?" WilyKat ventured. "D'you think anyone would miss us if we didn't go back?"

"That's a very strange thing to say," Panthro said, giving him a sideways glance.

WilyKat shrugged. "I don't like it much on Thundera. It's not as though I can remember what it was really like before we left, so I don't know whether I'm meant to like it or not. I get the feeling that no one wants us around anyway." Feeling his shoulders drooping under the weight of his depression, he looked over at Panthro, hoping that he would say something reassuring. "What d'you think?"

"I think you should be keeping an eye on our altitude."

He snapped out of his daze and saw that the Feliner was coming up to the atmosphere faster than was advisable. Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, he tightened his grip on the flight controls and prepared for the landing. The ship shuddered slightly as it hit the upper atmosphere and an ominous glow started to appear on its nose. Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw Panthro grab hold of the edge of his seat.

"I can do this," WilyKat muttered, fighting with the helm to correct their angle. For a few heart-stopping seconds, nothing happened, but then the ship slowed and levelled out. When the Feliner broke through the cloud cover, he was in control and growing in confidence by the second. The ship coasted easily over the treetops towards Cat's Lair. Then WilyKat's clammy palms slipped on the controls and the Feliner's landing gear connected with the ground rather sooner than expected. Glancing over at Panthro, he just caught his furtive movement as he wiped his glistening brow, and guessed he was in for another lesson on landing technique.

"Um, I lost it a bit at the end," he said sheepishly. "Sorry if it was a bit bumpy."

"We're down, that's all that matters," said Panthro, breathing a sigh of relief as he reached up to open the roof. The fresh air was welcome, as were the familiar smells of a pleasant Third Earth autumn evening. Panthro stood to his full height and arched his back to get some feeling back into his stiff muscles. "Well, let's get this show on the road," he said. "You all right back there?"

He half-turned to where Cheetara still sat lost in thought. "Third Earth to Cheetara," he said. "Come in, please."

Startled, she looked up. "What is it?"

"We're here," said WilyKat.

"Need a hand down?" Panthro said. "That dress looks a bit impractical to me."

"Had you given me a minute, I could have changed," she said irritably.

"You had a minute," Panthro reminded her. "Over thirty of them, in fact. Had we waited any longer, we would have taken root."

"Guys," said WilyKat nervously, worried that another argument was about to break out. "This is our last time here. Can't we be a bit happy, like we used to be?"

He knew his words had had the desired effect when Panthro smiled and patted him on the head. "It's all right, kid. We're just kicking against the traces, that's all. Well, m'lady, are you coming?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"Only if you want to sit here all night."

"As I said, no choice."

She sighed and got to her feet, while Panthro slid down from the Feliner's cockpit. Once down, he held out his arms to her. Catching her, he lowered her gracefully to the ground. WilyKat joined them seconds later, and together they stood staring up at the mighty bulk of Cat's Lair.

"I never thought we'd leave it this way," Panthro murmured. "I always thought it would be feet first."

"It might yet be," Cheetara said.

Panthro gave a derisive snort. "What, you think the Mutants are gonna try something today?"

"Who knows what's going to happen in the future?"

"Don't you start," Panthro chided her. "I had enough of that from old Vex last night. On and on about me making plans. I told him I didn't want to hear it."

"Instead, you took refuge in a bottle."

There was a dangerous glint in the eyes he turned on her. "I think I was entitled to drown my sorrows, don't you?"

Cheetara shrugged. "I could have done with your support, that's all."

Panthro's anger died as quickly as it had risen. "Sorry," he said. "You're right. I couldn't face it. Anyway, I hear you caused quite a rumpus without me."

"I embarrassed myself, you mean," she said with a sigh.

"No, you didn't," WilyKat said. "Lion-O deserved a slap. Serves him right."

Panthro gave him a reproving look, but he remained defiant. The more he thought about it, he could not escape the conclusion that one person alone was to blame for this situation. What Lion-O had done was unforgivable. In one stroke, he had destroyed the only family WilyKat had ever known. For him, the years on Third Earth had been special. Despite the hardships, there had always been time for laughter. Even on the worst days, he couldn't recall ever seeing his friends so dejected. Even WilyKit was acting strangely. She had hurried away to Third Earth without saying goodbye to him. She had never done that before, not even when he had really annoyed her. No, it had taken Lion-O and his stupid peace to do that. He didn't want to hate him, but whose fault was it if not his?

Cheetara's voice broke through his dark thoughts. "What's done is done, Kat," she said. "You can't go through your whole life feeling resentful. It shows on your face in the end. And we don't want that, especially as you're turning into quite a handsome young cat."

"You mean that?"

"You're gonna be a heartbreaker, kid," said Panthro.

"No, I meant about not blaming Lion-O."

Cheetara looked away. "Some things are meant to be, I guess," she said. "You can't fight destiny forever. There comes a time when you have to embrace it and be thankful for what you had before."

"And we did have some good times here, didn't we?" Panthro said, gazing wistfully up at the Lair.

"Must be breaking Tygra's heart to leave it," said WilyKat.

"Is he here?" Cheetara asked.

WilyKat grinned at the knowing wink Panthro gave him. "Sure is, Cheetara. Why?"

"I need to talk to him about something," she murmured as she started towards the bridge.

"About time," Panthro said when she had drawn ahead out of earshot.

"Perhaps she can find out what's wrong with him," WilyKat said. "You don't think it's serious, do you, Panthro?"

The panther gave him his usual look of reassurance. It had always worked so well in the past, but this time WilyKat felt strangely unconvinced. He could only pray that his deepest fears were wrong.

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

The problem with being tormented by a disembodied voice was that lashing out at it was difficult. It was never in the same place twice. Invariably, by the time he had aimed a few choice words in its general direction, it had piped up from somewhere else. Nor would it take the hint.

"For Jaga's sake, why don't you go away?" he yelled out loud. "Just leave me alone!"

< Oh, believe me, there's nothing would make me happier, > came the scornful reply. < I've better things to do than hang about here, watching you cry over your memories. >

The crying part was an exaggeration, but he had been pouring over memories now for the better part of the night. The duty he had allotted himself in the shut down of Cat's Lair was the downloading of those files from the main computer which were to be taken back to Thundera. As a task, it was mind-rottingly dull, but it had given him the opportunity to get away from the others. Initially, he had packed WilyKit and Bengali off to the Tower of Omens, but when the others had arrived and insisted on helping him, he had had to be inventive in finding jobs to keep them out of his way. Cheetara especially had seemed inclined to linger, as though she wanted to talk, and mindful of this, he had sent her down to the basement on some minor pretext of running a diagnostic on the generator. That was about as far away from him as was possible in the Lair and a task like that would keep her occupied for several hours.

So here he was, up in the Control Room, alone, but for his constant and annoying companion. And through the long night, he had felt his blood turn to ice water and then boil with all the fury of the Thundranium pits at Firerock Mountain. His mind had wandered from lucid to insensible and back again. Worst of all was the gap that yawned in his memory. The amount of data on the storage disks showed he had not been entirely idle in all that time, although his selection had been somewhat arbitrary. For some reason, he had chosen to save Snarf's recipes instead of valuable technical data. Perhaps there was a crazy logic in that, he thought. After all, someone on Thundera had to like custard berry pies.

Then, at dawn's first light, he had come across the recordings made of their lives in the early days on Third Earth. For over an hour now, he had sat watching Panthro in his Thundertank, the twins, as agile as ever on their spaceboards, Lion-O and the Sword of Omens atop a mountain peak, and Snarf stuck out on his washing line. Then he had seen a powerful, agile tiger, wielding a bolo whip with impressive ease to defeat a four-legged metal monster, one of Mumm-ra's warbots. He had marvelled at this former vision of himself. A little pride remained in the smile that had spread across his lips as he watched the machine brought to its knees. Of course he had saved that recording. It was the only proof he had left of what he had once been.

In its wake, another recording had begun to play. A golden streak of light filled the screen, moving so fast that the camera could barely keep up with her. With tears in his eyes, he had reached out to her, as if trying to capture her image in his hand. For a moment, she seemed contained within his grasping fingers, but then the recording ended and she was gone. As in life, he had lost her. And the voice had mocked his grief, belittling him, making him doubt himself, making him doubt her. Finally, he had been unable to stand any more and had directed all his anger at his tormentor.

< Temper, temper > it chided. < You know, I'm a little hurt by your attitude. I have been your almost constant companion and now you want to be rid of me. Some might call that ungrateful. >

"I said, go away!"

"Tygra?"

A voice, as sweet and soothing to his fevered mind as the sounds of a gently rippling stream. As if in answer to his deepest longings, she had come. He turned to find that she was stood in the doorway, a vision of beauty in her long orange dress that made the soft tresses of her yellow mane glow like ripened corn. In her presence, his demon retreated and sanity was restored.

"Were you talking to someone?" Cheetara asked a little uncertainly.

"Only myself," he said, faintly smiling. She was here, come to save him. He wanted to go to her and wrap his arms around her and thank her for his salvation. Then reality re-imposed itself and he stopped himself just in time. If anyone could see through his thin veneer of control, she could. Deliberately, he turned his back on her. "Was there something you wanted?" he said in an offhand manner.

He caught the moment's hesitation before she answered. "I wondered if you were all right."

"Just fine," he said stiffly. "I'm nearly finished here. How's it going downstairs?"

"Almost done."

"Good. I'll be down soon."

He hoped that would be an end of the matter, that she would leave, but he was aware of her continued presence. He forced himself to look back at her and instantly regretted it. She was sobbing.

"Was there something else you wanted?" he asked, feeling his resolve crumbling by the second.

"Only to know what I have done to make you hate me so much," she said, trying to hold back her tears.

It was too much. He went to her and took her in his arms. Gently, he stroked her mane, trying to soothe away the pain of his making. "Please don't cry," he said, holding her trembling body close to his. "I never meant to hurt you."

"You hate me," she sobbed. "Jaga knows I probably deserve it, but tell me, please, what have I done to earn your contempt?"

He wanted to tell her that he could never hate her, because he loved her too much, that he loved her with every ounce of his feeble body. But the words died on his lips. Surely the person he had seen in that recording would have had the courage to reveal his true feelings, he thought. But he never had and he was the coward still.

She pulled away from him, roughly scrubbing at her wet cheeks. "I suppose it doesn't matter now anyway. Things have changed. We have to move on."

As she began to turn away, suddenly he knew a fear greater than anything he had ever experienced in his whole life. Before he knew what he was doing, he had caught her arm and stopped her. "Cheetara, don't leave me," he said desperately. "I can't go back to Thundera."

"Why not?"

A simple question, but one without an easy answer. To tell her was to reveal his innermost secret. He had to believe he could trust her now, as he had many times in the past. She had never betrayed him then. Yet he had allowed the paranoid ramblings of some shattered fragment of his mind convince him that it was better to shut her out, to deny her all contact. She was not his enemy; this disease was. There was no guile in the sad eyes that poured into his, no hint of deception or mockery. She wanted to help. She could help as no one else could. He took a deep breath and trusted her.

"I'm not well, Cheetara," he began, trying to force down the lump that risen in his throat. A secret guarded so closely for so long was not easily revealed. "I'm losing my mind," he finally managed. "Every day is waking nightmare. I'm haunted by a voice. It taunts me, fills my mind with horrible thoughts, urges me to do terrible things. The worse thing is, it sounds like my brother and he's been dead a long time. Then sometimes things happen and I have no memory of doing them. And I have this rage, deep within me. When it comes, it terrifies me. I'm afraid, Cheetara. One day I know that I'll lose control and do those terrible things."

She stared at him for a long minute, her expression torn somewhere between disbelief and distress. "Why has this happened?" she said falteringly.

"It was inevitable," he replied. "The condition is inherited, and present in many of the tiger families. The strain of using our mental powers causes the mind to break down. Because of that, I have always tried to avoid using my powers of illusion."

"Is there no cure?"

"No. The only treatment is to be locked away where you can do no harm and..." He swallowed hard, trying to quell the tremor he had heard in his voice. "And let the disease take its course."

"Why didn't you say something?" Cheetara said, shock and grief venting itself as anger. "Were we so blind to your suffering? How long have you lived like this, Tygra?"

"I can't remember exactly when it first started. At at guess, about a year or at most eighteen months, I suppose. It's been coming on for a while."

"And you said nothing? Not even to Pumyra?"

"To no one. I tried to conceal it as best I could."

"What if it isn't what you think? There might be something we can do--"

"I know the symptoms," he said. "My uncle was similarly afflicted. Back on Thundera, I tried to go to the asylum to get help, but my nerve failed me." An unbidden tear rolled from his eye down his cheek. "Jaga forgive me, but I was afraid. I am a coward."

In his pain, she came to him, enfolding him in her healing embrace, holding him tight to her breast with a strength that promised to drive his demons away. He held on to her, praying that now she was with him, he would be all right. But still the storm clouds gathered, blotting out the clarity of his mind.

"You are no coward," she whispered to him. "If anyone is, I am. I let my own fears keep me from you. I should have returned to be with you here a long time ago."

"No. Even just then, I hesitated to tell you. I never wanted to make you cry. You mean too much me to ever want to hurt you."

"But you have, Tygra. Why didn't you trust me? You didn't have to go through this alone."

"It was the only way. When I was here, on Third Earth, away from everyone, I could manage. Now that I have to go back, everyone will know. They'll lock me away. I'd rather be dead than that." As he spoke, he could feel his hysteria rising. It made his breathing ragged and caused his whole body to shake. He knew he was falling and in vain tried to cling onto her for support. As he went down, the strap of her dress tore in his hand. Unable to support his weight, she came down with him onto the floor. "Help me, Cheetara," he sobbed into his hands. "I can't bear it on my own any more. Please, please help me!"

"I'll do all I can for you," she said, putting her arm around his shoulder. "I'll look after you. But I can't do it here. You have to come back with me."

"No! I can't go back. Didn't you hear what I was saying?"

"But you can't stay here. You'll be alone and defenceless."

"Not if you stay with me." He grabbed her arms and enfolded her in his embrace. Surprised, she tried to pull away, only to melt under the kiss that his eager lips sought of hers. Seconds passed, until the need for air finally ended their intimacy. He looked deep into her eyes and found his salvation. "Stay," he whispered. "We're free now. We're not Thundercats any more. We can do what we like, live our own lives, do anything, go anywhere."

She slowly shook her head. "Tygra, we can't. Listen to me--"

"Let me convince you," he said. Taking her head in his hands, he brought her face to his and smothered her protests with a hungry kiss. She offered no resistance as he held her close, his lips pressed to hers, not even when he started to slip the remaining strap of her dress down her arm and traced her graceful contours the length of her body. Under his caress, he felt her body tremble with excitement and heard her soft sigh of pleasure.

"I love you, Cheetara," he murmured. "I want you, I need you. Be with me. Love me. Don't leave me."

She was on the verge of saying something, but he kissed the words away, moving from her mouth to her neck and down to her bare shoulders. She filled his whole attention, the feel of her, the taste of her, and not even the swish of an opening and quickly closing door could distract him. But then, as his lips touched the gentle swell of her breast, she stiffened and pulled away from him.

"No, I can't," she said. "I'm sorry. I can't."

"Cheetara, why?"

"Whatever happens, you will always be special to me. I want you to know that. I'll do everything in my power to help you. But I can't be with you."

"Why?"

She hesitated, long enough for him to see that the answer was giving her the same trouble he had had earlier. And, in the awkward stretch of time, the voice whispered the truth in his ear.

"There's someone else, isn't there?" he said hoarsely. "My gods, you've found someone else."

"No," she protested. "It's not like that--"

"Then what?" His eyes fell upon her hand and the shiny band that she was trying to hide unsuccessfully beneath her twisting fingers. "You're getting married?"

"Yes. I had to agree. Histor had it all planned out. I had no choice."

She reached for him, but he drew away, not hearing her entreaties, only the voice and the poison it poured into his ear.

< You're not going to trust her now, are you? That little hussy wants to see you locked away. It's a trap, bro, just like I told you. >

"Why did I trust you?" he said. "You want them to lock me away. You're trying to trick me into going back to Thundera. I trusted you, Cheetara. You lied to me."

"No," she pleaded. "I would never do that. Please, Tygra--"

< She hates you. >

"You hate me."

"No, that's not true."

< She found herself someone else and now she wants you out of the way. >

"You've found someone else and you want me out of the way."

She stared at him, as if seeing for the first time the real extent of his condition. To his mind, jeered on by the voice, her eyes held only disgust and loathing.

< Why don't you show her who's master here? Take what is rightfully yours, what she has denied to you for all these years. >

The words struck a chord in his clouded mind just in time before he acted on the hateful urgings of his tormentor. "No," he said gruffly. "I'm not listening to you. I won't."

"You won't what?" Cheetara asked. "I don't understand."

< Then show her, Tygra. Go on, take her, you deserve it. Do it! >

"Just stop!"

He jumped to his feet, every muscle of his lean frame quivering with fear and anticipation. Still that voice pounded his brain, enflaming within him a desire that took every ounce of his strength to restrain.

"Leave me alone!" he yelled, banging the heels of his hands against his throbbing temples. The sudden pain brought a precious moment of relief, restoring his control if only for a second. "And you," he snarled, rounding on her. "I don't ever want to see you again. You disgust me!"

With that, he turned and hurried from the room. Outside, in the corridor, he almost bowled a startled WilyKit from her feet. She stared at him in wide-eyed amazement as he passed, but he paid her no heed. He had but one impulse, the only way he had left of coping. Escape, run, hide, whatever it took to get away, yet always knowing that he could never run far enough or hide effectively enough to escape his tormentor. And still it dogged his footsteps.

< Oh, no, you don't get off so easily, my friend, > it taunted. < I haven't finished with you yet! >

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

The moment was fast approaching and he still wasn't sure what to do. Not for the first time in this long, depressing journey, Bengali cast a glance over at his co-passenger and wondered what to do. To his right, Cheetara sat staring out of the cockpit window, lost in thought. She had not said a word since she had appeared in the Paw Hangar, clearly in a state, begging someone to take her home. He had taken one look at her tear-stained face and torn dress, and had volunteered on the spot. It had moved his own plans forward somewhat, but at the time the 'when' had been less important than the 'if', so, with the Feliner packed and ready to go, he had leapt at the chance. Now with time to think it over, he was starting to see that it had not been one of his better ideas. Even so, he had to ask.

Before he could, Cheetara suddenly snapped out her reverie and entered a new heading into the flight computer. The speed of it took him by surprise, and he barely had time to prepare himself for the jolt as the Feliner veered abruptly from its course.

"What are you doing?" he said, as he hauled himself back up into his chair.

"We're going back," Cheetara said.

"Back?" Bengali echoed. "To Third Earth?"

She nodded. "I have to go back. I shouldn't have left in the first place. I'll not desert a friend, even if loyalty is going out of fashion these days."

"I see," he said carefully. "Who exactly are we talking about?"

"Tygra. He needed me, and I ran away." She swallowed heavily. "I'm not proud of that. But there's still time to put things right."

He studied her for a moment, noting the firm set of her jaw and the sparkle of determination in her eyes. Then, he reached across and decreased the power output. Cheetara shot him a look of confusion as the Feliner ground to a halt.

"What d'you think you're doing?" she demanded. He put his hand over the controls to stop her reactivating the power. "You won't let me?"

"When I've got to where I'm going, then you can take the Feliner and go anywhere you want," he said. "Until then--"

"Where are you going?"

He called up the star charts on the viewscreen and indicated a flashing pinprick of light several light years from their present location. "It's a spaceport called Midas. I'll get off there. After that, the Feliner's all yours."

She stared at him, slowly shaking her head. "Ben, I don't understand. What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about not going back to Thundera," he said calmly.

"But... but," she began, flustered by what he had told her. "You're a Thundercat. How can you leave?"

"Easily. I'm not a 'proper' Thundercat, so that solves that little dilemma."

"Of course you are. How can you doubt that you are?"

"Can you honestly see the Leaders giving their approval for me? If they were ready to sacrifice you, they're hardly going to worry too much about me." With a deep sigh, he reached up and pulled his insignia from his chest. "Give this to Lion-O, will you?" he said, handing it to her. "Tell him... tell him... oh, tell him whatever you like. I doubt he'll even notice I'm gone."

Her gaze switched from his face to the insignia in her hand. "Bengali, you can't do this."

"Why not? I'm a free agent. No ties."

"But the Thundercats... Lion-O... Bengali, you're needed. We... I mean, they can't do without you."

He gave her a rueful smile. "I haven't been needed in a long while. Frankly, I'm sick and tired of being sidelined. Let's face it, I won't be missed." He returned his attention to the flight computer and re-entered their original heading. The Feliner corrected itself and set off once again under half power. Aware of Cheetara's eyes upon him, he made several unnecessary checks on their heading and speed in a concerted effort to ignore her, only to fail miserably.

"Pumyra will miss you," she said, when he finally looked over at her.

"No, she won't," he said gruffly. "It's over between us. She told me so. She said she hates me. I think that's pretty final."

"I'm sure she didn't mean it."

"It doesn't matter now. It just makes leaving that much easier."

"Even if that were true," Cheetara said, "it doesn't explain why you have to leave."

"What do you want me to say? That I don't belong any more? That falling in love with Pumyra and becoming a Thundercat were the two best things that ever happened to me in my whole miserable life? Do you really think I can go back to how things were?" He took out his inner rage on the helm, thumping it with his fist. Then, fury spent, he sighed. "Sorry, I didn't mean to take it out on you. I just feel so frustrated. I should have known it would never work. Blacksmiths from the poor quarter of town do not become Thundercats. I suppose I got swept up in this whole 'New Thundera' thing. Yet nothing's changed." Cheetara gave a soft snort, and he glanced over at her. "What?"

"It seems everywhere I go I keep hearing that," she said. "Sorry, go on."

"It wouldn't be so bad if I got some support from Lion-O, but he's... well, I don't know what's wrong with him. Then there's Mardak. He despises me, because I'm common and, worse, not one of his precious red tigers. With odds like that, what's the point in returning? What have I got to go back to?"

"To what you know perhaps," Cheetara suggested.

"I can't," he said. "Not after this. Truth is, I don't know who I am any more. I can't go back to what I was, and I can't stay as I am. I need to get away. I need to find out who I am and what I want. I can't do that on Thundera. If you don't approve, then at least try to understand."

"Oh, but I do," she murmured. "In fact, I envy you."

Her expression was earnest. She clearly meant what she had said. So moved was he by the sadness he could see in her eyes that before he knew what he was doing he was asking her to come with him.

"I can't," she said, giving him a grateful smile. "I have to go back to Thundera. It's a matter of honour."

"I thought you said you were going back to Third Earth to be with Tygra."

She flashed him a reproving smile. "That's not what I said. I said I had to go back to help him. He's not well, Bengali. I have to convince him to come back to Thundera with me."

"And then?" he asked.

"And then, I'll get him help."

"It's not..." Bengali twirled a finger by the side of his head. "Because if it is, I know that the asylum is not a nice place to be. He'd be better off on Third Earth."

"Well, I can't stay on Third Earth and he can't be on his own. I know he was adamant about not coming back, but he has to. I've given my word that I'll return. I can't break it."

"Oh, and why is that?" Before she had a chance to reply, the proximity sensor started to bleep. Bengali glanced out of the window, expecting to see the spaceport ahead of them. "That's strange," he murmured. "The sensors must be malfunctioning. They're telling me we're at Midas, but I can't see it."

As he finished speaking, the Feliner violently lurched and stalled. The power died in a pitiful whine and the ship came to a shuddering halt, sending them both crashing against the hard, unforgiving metal plates of the inner hull.

"What on Thundera was that?" Bengali muttered, quickly pushing himself up.

"We've lost all power to the engines," Cheetara told him from the position she had taken up by the aft scanners. "According to these readings, it was caused by... oh, by all the gods, it's an old Mutant trick. Bengali, we have to get out of here now!"

On cue, a sleek, cylinder-like ship appeared from a shimmering opening behind them and rapidly began to close on their position. Bengali's fingers flew across the controls as he tried to re-route power to bring the engines back online. As their whine grew louder, the Feliner began to pick up speed, but then the other vessel fired again. The impact of its blast sent them into a wild spin. Thrown across the cockpit, Bengali winced as he was slammed into something hard. He heard Cheetara's yelp of pain, but before he could get to her, the ship shook under another impact, sending him tumbling in the opposite direction. He crashed against the panels that concealed the ship's inner workings just as every circuit shorted out in a fiery explosion. Blinding white light filled his eyes before blackness swooped down and plunged him into unconsciousness.

Continued

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