There were four of the others; they looked like they were part of the five that had originally come through the gate. There was a blond man, looking as though he was itching to use the gun that he held, an older brunette, a red head man, and, who appeared to be the leader, a tall black haired man, the dangerous looking gun held in his hands pointed directly at Jack.
"Don't be stupid, Cal. Just shoot them; those are our orders." The young man commented, pointing his head directly at Daniel's head. The leader, Cal, simply glanced over at the young man and he lowered his weapon.
"They were conversing with the centaur. I want to know why." The last part of the statement was clearly directed at Jack. He hesitated, glancing at the other two before answering.
"He wanted us to leave. Said he wanted us out of the way so he could take care of you." The other leader snorted.
"He would. As soon as you stepped out to go through the chaapa'ai, you'd be dead." He told them casually. Jack was inclined to believe him—the centaur had quickly made it to his enemy list.
"And I suppose you'd simply let us walk right through." Jack replied. The other four laughed.
"Most certainly not. We would shoot you as well." The leader told them coolly.
"I guess we're dead either way, right?" Daniel piped up. The leader shrugged.
"I didn't say that. If you try to go through the chaapa'ai, then yes, you're dead either way, but I don't think everything on this planet needs to be eradicated, unlike some others." He looked pointedly at the young blond man. "That's why I'm talking to you here, instead of bringing you into the camp. They'd not let me do that, and I think it may be helpful to know why you're here." No one spoke. The leader sighed and raised his gun to point once again at Jack. "Let me put it this way. Either you talk, and maybe I let you live, or you don't talk, and you die here and now." Jack frowned. This was getting worse and worse, and the longer they stood here talking to 'Cal', the chances of finding Sam diminished. Daniel tapped his arm slightly, and Jack nodded. Let Daniel do the talking. At least that would give him time to think of a way out of this predicament.
"We're here as explorers. We just came to look at the ruins over by the …chaapa'ai. We had no idea that the centaurs were here." Daniel explained. The young man and the woman looked doubtful, but the other spoke up.
"We did find brushes at the ruins. They might have left them there."
"If you were simply exploring the ruins, why are you so far from the ruins?" the leader asked, almost sarcastically.
"We were leaving the ruins to go back through the chaapa'ai when you came through. After watching you kill a deer for no good reason, we thought it safer to return to the ruins. On the way, we sort of...got lost." Daniel explained. Jack shook his head. The others could have done without that bit of information. The blond man burst out laughing, but the leader remained solemn.
"We've heard of that happening when the centaurs are around. Where did they lead you?" he asked. Suddenly, Jack had had enough of the questions.
"Look. We don't have any business with you or the centaurs. We simply want to find our companion and leave."
"And we just can't let you leave." The leader insisted.
"And why the hell not?" The others glanced around themselves. The woman nodded and the leader frowned.
"Do you people realize that the centaurs were psychic?" the leader asked.
"We had a suspicion." Jack told him. Daniel glanced at him in surprise. He hadn't even considered it; thinking about it, though, it made sense. Daniel didn't think Jack would have made that connection before he had.
"Well, we don't know if you're under the control of the centaurs. You said yourselves that you got lost, which means you are susceptible to it, so they could make you go through the chaapa'ai and then return to our home planet and destroy it while we're here trying to stop it." The leader explained.
"What exactly is going on here?" Jack insisted.
"We're at war with the centaurs. They came to our planet a couple of years ago, pretending to be 'explorers' themselves. They became our allies, were invited to the planet in a large group, and then they attacked. They took over the leaders, who in turn began to kill one another. Luckily, someone realized what was going on in time to stop them, since some of us were immune to the centaurs. We declared war on them, and managed to drive them off the planet. Unfortunately, they took some of us with them. The scientists think it's so that they can figure out why some of us are immune and can finish taking over the planet." The leader explained. "You said you were looking for your companion. I assume the centaur you were conversing with took him. All he has to do is plant an idea in her head and she'll go wherever he wants her to. And if none of you are immune, it's because he likes her, which is never a good sign when it comes to centaurs."
