Chapter 20 – Capture
Exiting the shield of the Spacegate, the crew was face-to-face with a world full of lush vegetation. Daniel was taken aback. So far, the two other worlds he had seen had been barren and almost hazardous to live there for long periods. This place looked just like the rainforests back on Old Earth.
"It's beautiful," Daniel heard Alex breathe next to him as they walked down the moss-covered, cracked stone steps that led down from the Spacegate.
"It is," John agreed as he took off and put on his olive green baseball cap again. "But there're trees. When ya think you're not on Earth again…well, you actually kinda are!"
"I thought all planets that contained a Stargate were barren with no inhabitants," Daniel said, voicing his confusion for the first time. "I guess I was wrong."
"Yeah. Most of the planets, well, okay…all of the planets that actually have a Spacegate had one type of sentient life form or another before they either killed themselves or were killed. Most of the planets, though, still have life on them…no matter how primitive or advanced they are. According to our sensors here—and because of Dude's wonderful hacking skills—we've determined that this planet does indeed have life, not much more advanced than ours." John seemed to be enjoying his lecture when Alex shouted something and veered off towards their right at a flat-out run.
"Hey! You! Stop!" Alexandra yelled as she ran. The man, whom she had seen, looked up at her, startled to see her there. His already poised knife above his heart hovered there, hesitating because of this new stranger. That hesitation was enough. Alex kicked the knife out of the man's reach, and helped him up.
"What were you thinking?" she demanded, not noticing how the man stared at her with open mouth and lusting eyes. "Why were you trying to kill yourself?"
Before he could answer, the rest of GC-1 crashed through the foliage and stood next to the Major.
"Uh, my name is Daniel Matthewson," the linguist said, indicating himself, "and these are Colonel O'Brien, Dagón, Major Croft, and Lieutenant Woods. What's your name?"
The man looked at each one in turn, though his eyes always turned back to Alex.
"Solaris," the man replied with a slight shudder. No one but Daniel saw that. "My name is Solaris." The man then, smiling at his rescuer, took her hand and began to lead them somewhere, beaming all the way.
They walked into the morning.
"Where are you taking us?" John asked of the man as they came to a marvelous city.
"To my home," Solaris said, talking to them for the first time on the whole trip. "This woman saved and helped me think twice about committing suicide. She will be given a special place in my house."
"But what about us?" the Colonel asked.
"You will stay here," the man said. "I'm only interested in the woman."
"Hey…" Daniel said, stepping forwards. "We're a team. If she's going, we all go."
The man shrugged. "Have it your way, though you'll be in a jail cell while she is dancing the night away in my arms. Follow me, my love."
They all went with the man, though Damian disappeared the minute they turned their backs on him. Alex struggled to get out of the grip of this deranged man. The man held fast, however, and the only thing she could do was follow him.
As they walked into the city, everyone greeted Solaris by bowing or curtsying respectfully. He would acknowledge them by a curt not of his head. He never once slowed down. Just as they stopped to wait for the road to clear, however, John lashed forward, catching the man off guard.
"Let her go!" he yelled, and the two men commenced to fight. Dagón and Daniel both got Alex away from the men, and had just gone to get their Colonel to stop from fighting when they were all surrounded by what looked like palace guards.
"Let the Prince go!" one of them yelled, and the heavily armed men roughly separated John from Solaris. The largest one, clearly the leader, hit the side of the Colonel's head with a blow that knocked him unconscious. Daniel and Dagón were separated then from Alex, and had their hands bound behind their backs. They began their march once more.
After an hour of walking—or, in John's case, being carried—they came to the biggest building in the entire city. It looked to be a palace, and a very lavishly decorated one at that. Once inside, however, the three men were separated from Alex and led downward underground, into a sort of prison.
There were prisoners crammed into every single cell they passed, all of them reaching out through the bars, demanding food, to be let out, or anything they could get from the guard. All the guards did was fire a blasting-weapon at one of them, instantly killing him, and all the prisoners went silent. Dagón, Daniel, and a stirring John were led even farther into the prison into a secluded cell all their own.
"Thanks for the escort!" Colonel O'Brien shouted after the departing guards. "Hey! How do we get in touch with room service?" The guards kept walking to their next duty. Clutching his head, John moaned for the first time after his injury, then resorted back to humor to ease his pain. "They sure were nice, weren't they? I mean, for carrying me all the way here—wherever here is—they deserve a raise. I say we should go and talk to their employer." He moaned again, and lied back on the one large bed he had been thrown onto.
Daniel looked over at John. "Are you okay?"
"Ah, yes…yes. I've had worse. It's not broken…not like that one time. I'll live."
"Like what time? Now that we have a lot of time together, do you feel like sharing a story or two?"
"Unh," the Colonel groaned, but launched himself into a story; mostly to forget the pain of the splitting migraine he was experiencing at the moment. "A while back, before even Dude had joined the GC Teams, Dagón and I were off on a mission, and it went badly…didn't it, Dagón?"
"Aye," the old Machiá pirate said with a scowl. "I remember it well."
"As do I, my friend," the Colonel said, and then started telling his story to Daniel.