A/N: Even more suspense…

Chapter 4-Nothing Else Matters

He found himself being led through the Gate of the Ancestors and emerging onto a world he had seen before, Reekan it was called. It was an uninhabited planet he and Vinelle had considered establishing their home on if they became tired of their home planet, Ixonia, or if their people gave them too much of a hard time for marrying. It was a nice planet he thought.

The Commander was leading the group, two guards were holding Jorus's unbound arms as he walked. The other two were behind him, ready to shoot if he attempted anything. The only thing he would try was strangling that Commander. They walked in silence through the woods about a quarter of a mile until they came upon a ravine. The Commander finally turned to Jorus,

"The Ancient chamber is further down the ravine. Major Sheppard should be walking this way sometime tomorrow, leading a small team, three others at the most. I expect you to carry out orders, or you know what will happen."

Jorus glared at him, hating him, clenching his fists. The Commander nodded to one of the guards who threw down a military style bag. "You will find what I took from you in there, and other supplies."

With that he started to lead the guards back towards the Gate, but turned for one last comment, "Don't forget to bring me the body, the correct symbols are in the bag, I wouldn't want you to get lost. And if you can, bring Dr. McKay, alive. He would be very useful, he's the obnoxious one." He showed an evil smile.

He watched them walk out of sight, knowing he could take the guards, but that Commander would stop him before he could get to him. Perhaps if it was only the Commander… and weaponless… He crouched and emptied the contents of the bag.

His knife and holster he tied around his waist. There was some food wrapped in paper and a canteen. He shook the canteen and upon hearing the water splash, opened it, smelled inside… he didn't know what he was checking for, those people would have to be idiots to poison their hand picked assassin before he finished the job.

Still crouching, he took a swig. Okay so not water, it had a sweet-nectar taste and was surprisingly good. He noticed a piece of paper folded on the ground and closed the canteen. After he set it down, he unfolded the paper and read the Gate coordinates. He folded the piece of paper and shoved it in his pocket.

The hand weapon they had given him was lying next to where the paper was, they called it a gun, filthy contraption Jorus thought as he threw it away. That wasn't an honorable way to assassinate someone; they should at least have a remote chance. Besides, Jorus wasn't exactly a sharpshooter.

Then he actually smiled when he saw something wrapped in a beige cloth. He unwrapped it and revealed the shining metal. He gripped the weapon in his fingers, it had three curving blades attached to a round metal handle. The blades came out in between his knuckles. He called them his 'claws.' They even curved to a very sharp point.

Jorus couldn't explain the…affection he had for this particular weapon, only that it was his favorite. It did remind him of the pet he had growing up, a wolf-like creature his father had domesticated. (This animal was unlike the Earth wolf, its claws retracted more like a large cat's, but it was very much a wolf).

He sighed knowing what he was going to do with his favorite weapon. But he had to. His people believe that love makes you weak, but it made strong enough to do this. He and Vinelle had married for love, and were looked at as odd for it. Love and emotions were deemed weakening.

They never cared for what their people 'knew' or thought. Their life was theirs and they lived it their way. Perhaps that is why they were chosen by this Commander. They were warriors and certainly capable of an assassination, and they were the only ones among their people who married for love and he used it against him. It worked, Jorus did not care what he had to do, nothing else mattered but Vinelle staying alive.

He noticed the only other thing that came out of the pack was the rest of his clothes, an earth colored tunic he hastily put on, and a coarse blanket for the night. His bow and arrows were nowhere to be found. He must have dropped them when he was shot with the tranquilizer. It was no matter, he still had his knife and claws. He attached the claws to the clip he had on the holster and put the food, canteen, and blanket back in the pack and stood up, leaving the gun where he threw it earlier as the sun set.

He had decided to survey the land, even if it was getting dark. It wasn't as if sleeping would be possible right now. The 'ravine' didn't have any water running through it, and by the looks of the vegetation fully covering the ground, there was no muddy creek area, the water source that fed it dried up a long time ago.

Now it was more like a ten foot wide grassy road surrounded by slanting slopes with an infinite amount of trees. Jorus kept walking along the ravine as the sun completely set. It didn't turn pitch black though, the three shining full moons took care of that. He didn't like walking down there, it felt like a trap. Perfect for tomorrow though.

He had progressed fifty yards when he came right up on the chamber, as the Commander called it. Strange, it looked more like a cave. He entered it, the moonlight penetrating the darkness a third of its depth. He felt the walls by the entrance, they were smooth.

Then he saw it, a soft green light blinking from the ground right at the entrance. It wouldn't be noticeable in full sunlight. He crouched, touched the light, and brushed the dirt away. There was more buried than he thought… he then pried the device out of the ground.

It was small enough to fit in his hand and was rectangular in shape. He rolled it over in his hand, accidentally pressing a button. The device played back the noises of Jorus digging it up. A recorder, spying on me are they? He pressed a different button and the light shut off. He didn't really have a reason to keep it, but he threw it in the pack nonetheless. He looked around and thought it was as good a place as any to sleep, sat down against the wall, and fell asleep thinking of Vinelle.