Captives of the Unknown

By TheRealXenocide

Disclaimer: This story contains plot elements and characters created and owned by Sunrise and/or their successor companies. No permission has been given. No money is being made with this story, and no infringement is intended.

Note: For character ages, I will limit myself to the anime series as much as possible. According to the Prolog for the episode "Between Life and Machine", Gene was 20 years old, Harry was 19, and Melfina was 17.8 at that time. Jim was 11 in the Prolog for "Cats and Girls and Spaceships", just three episodes later.

Aisha and Suzuka did not have ages given in the series that I noticed. While some websites and stories have made claims about the characters' ages, none that I have found cite official material. Between that and the fact that the ages cited for those two ladies are illogically young, I will not use those unsupported claims. But it is possible to guess a reasonable age range for each based on in-show factors, such as education, remembered experiences, and so on. I will be using those ages, and more importantly the age differences, as the baseline for this story. Therefore, do to reasoned assumptions about time needed in primary education, military training, and officer training, I am assuming an age for Aisha of 23 during the series. Similarly, allowing for the time necessary for her extensive training and reputation building, I am assuming an age of 25 for Suzuka.

Prolog:

Whenever a society ventures into space for the first time, it faces many challenges, both expected and unexpected. Among these are the effects encounters with new planets and cultures, as well the hardships of life in space itself, can have on a society's laws and customs.

As a culture adapts, the nature and extent of change can vary widely. Those that are too rigid will often find themselves in constant conflict, while those that are too pliable risk losing their own cultural identity.

Even for those that seem to find something in the middle, inconsistencies abound.

But then again, inconsistency is one of life's few constants.

Chapter 1:

Wake-up call

14-year-old Jim Hawking began to wake to the worst headache he could ever remember. It seemed to be coming from deep in his skull. He also felt a slight burning sensation in his lungs. The realization brought Jim suddenly sitting upright, much to his head's protest. "Gas!"

"A little late with that, partner." The voice of Gene Starwind said. He sounded like he did while nursing a hangover headache. "But then, I didn't get it until too late either."

Jim began to look around, careful not to disturb his head. It looked like a small cave, but the walls, floor, and ceiling looked too squared and even to be natural. Jim was sitting on the full sized bed he had been sleeping on. Of course, the mattress was so stiff, it seemed better used as a bookshelf. To his right, he saw the end of the bed with the tiny pillow was against a corner, a small light sensor about a foot above the bed. Along the wall opposite him, there was a sink, a flush toilet, and one light near the ceiling. To his left was what looked, at first, like a bare wall. However, as his eyes focused better, he soon realized that there was a stone shelf at a height so that it could be used as a seat. Barely. Along the left side of the wall his bed was on, running from the foot of his bed to the left wall, was a two foot wide opening. "Is this a cell?"

"A most unusual one, to be sure." Suzuka's voice answered through the opening. "When your head is up to it, please join us, James."

"Huh?" That had Jim confused. "You mean there's no barrier?"

"Not until we get out here." Melfina replied. "It seems that all of our cells are joined to a single gathering room, which is where the bars are."

Jim slowly stood. His head wasn't as bad as it had been. As he got to the opening, Suzuka spoke. "Look at the edges of the passage, James, and tell me what you see."

Jim heard her tone, and realized what she was doing. "Of course, sensei." Trying to focus his mind, he looked up first. Seeing a grove that was far too smooth and shiny, he followed it around the opening all the way around. "Well, the groove has no apparent hatch or opening, so I'd suspect a light shield or other energy barrier."

"Very good, James. As you are recovering from the gas, I won't mark off for time."

Soon after the Leyline, Jim began asking Suzuka to teach him how to fight. She finally agreed, but only if he did things her way without complaint. She did point out that questions were allowed, as he would not be himself if he didn't ask questions. Jim agreed. Suzuka decided that, while they wait for his body to mature, they would focus his training on stealth, quickness, and what she called 'battlefield intellect'. This involved training to use all of his natural senses to observe and recognize his surroundings, and apply that to tactical considerations, both conventional and unconventional. While she didn't ban him from using his sensor gear and other gadgets outside of training, she was adamant that he train without them to learn how to do things without them. The tough part was training his analytical mind to do all of that with constantly improving speed. While Jim was already quick of mind, Suzuka's training proved that tenths of a second can be the difference between life and death.

"Thank you, sensei." Jim said. "It is a bit tough to focus." As he crossed the threshold of his cell into the gathering area Melfina had mentioned, he quickly agreed with that description. The room was rectangular, about 20 feet by 15 feet by 10 feet high. The center of the room held an oval table surrounded by six chairs, all of which seemed to be carved from the stone of the room. Just like that shelf in his cell, he realized. The two longer walls had two openings like his. One of the shorter walls held an opening about three feet wide that was blocked by bars, with a two foot wide cell door in the middle. The distinct lack of shine made Jim realize their problem. "They used space hull metal for the bars?!"

"And it's the good stuff, too." Gene grumbled. "Whoever did this ain't jacking around."

"And what do you make of the opposite wall, James?" Suzuka quizzed.

Realizing that she was trying to help him think his way out of his gas induced mental fog, he looked as directed. The wall was bare except for a pair of small, shiny protrusions near the ceiling, each about five feet from the side walls, and thus five feet from each other. "Well, since they used gas on us to get us here, I'd suspect that they are also for gas."

"A logical conclusion." Suzuka replied. "However, as gas dispersal can be somewhat unpredictable, it would be strange for somebody willing to use quality hull metal for bars to only have two nuzzles, and place them both on the same wall."

Jim looked around the room, and saw that there were no other protrusions. "Okay. If that's not it, then unless I can get a better look, I'm stumped. I'm sorry, sensei."

"She doesn't know, either." Gene remarked.

Jim focused on the group around the table, and that's when it clicked. Four rooms, four people. "Where's Aisha?" He couldn't completely hide the dread he was starting to feel.

"They put her in the room next to you." Suzuka answered, pointing to the hole in question. Jim immediately started toward the room. "Wait." Jim wheeled around at Suzuka. "I'll join you."

"As will . . ." Melfina began as she started to stand.

"No." Suzuka interrupted. "I'm sorry, but for now, I must ask that you allow this to be just James and I."

Gene had stood, and was now directly behind Melfina, gently holding her shoulders. "It's okay, Mel. I think we know why."

"What? Oh, right. We'll wait out here."

Suzuka nodded. "Thank you." She then quickly moved to Jim, not sure how long her student's patience would hold. "This way, but please remain quiet." She then quickly and quietly moved to the hole she had pointed to earlier. Jim was right behind her, almost as quiet.

The room had the same layout as Jim's. Suzuka sat on the stone shelf, allowing Jim to move around the bed however he wished. When Jim entered the room, he turned his head toward the bed, and inhaled sharply. "Aisha." She was laying on her back, surprisingly still. A little blanket covered her to just below her breasts, looking to have been carefully folded there. Jim swiftly moved to kneel near her face.

"She's alive." Suzuka told him in a low voice. "Breathing and heartbeat are regular, but a little slower than normal."

"Did you arrange her blanket?"

"Yes. When I checked on her an hour ago."

That made him think. "How long have you been awake?"

"About two hours. Gene and Melfina awoke only a few minutes after me."

"So why was I out for longer, and why is Aisha still out? And look at how still she is. I know she tosses around in her sleep. This stillness is just wrong." Jim felt the hand of Suzuka on his shoulder. "Please don't ask."

"When you tell her is your choice, James. But I would continue to advise you to tell her."

"Sensei . . ."

"I'll leave it at that for now, James."

"I'm sorry for asking, but about what Gene said."

"They came to their conclusions on their own."

"Thank you. And I am sorry for asking."

"I understand, James. As for Aisha's condition, I would remind you that you have studied Ctarl-Ctarl physiology more than I have. Can you think of anything that would be more dangerous to the Ctarl-Ctarl than it is to a human?"

"I don't know if study is the right word. I was just updating Gilliam's medical database. And the only thing that comes to mind that wouldn't kill outright is ghrighri root. But that stuff is supposed to be impossible to keep stable as a gas."

"Theoretically, if somebody solved that problem, even temporarily, could it do this?"

"Possibly. If given as a powder or a solution, a small enough dose can knock out a Ctarl-Ctarl for several hours, yet the same dose works for less than half that time for humans. It attacks how blood cells carry oxygen, and our cells are built differently." Jim turned to her, fear building on his face. "Sensei, if it is ghrighri root, than this is still extremely dangerous. If it behaves like either the powder or the solution, then an overdose would cause suffocation at the cellular level. It wouldn't have to kill to do serious long-term damage. Damage that even nanotech has a hard time with."

Suzuka nodded. "I understand." Then she did something she had only done a couple of times before. She gathered her student in an embrace. "Given the situation, fear is perfectly normal. But you must not lose hope. Aisha is as strong and life-loving as they come. If anyone can pull through, it's her."

"Thank you, sensei."

"Just remember that we are all here for you, whatever . . ." Suzuka's sentiment was cut off by a groan from the bed.

"Aisha!"

"Careful, James. Remember the headache you awoke with."

"Yes, sensei." Suzuka returned to the main room to inform the others and remind them to be quiet if they looked in. She also suggested that they wait a few moments, to make sure she was really waking up. Gene and Melfina agreed, knowing full well that this would allow their friend, Jim Hawking, to tend to the woman that every one of them except Aisha Clan-Clan knew he had fallen in love with.