SOS chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own Ben 10 or any related shows.

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At least partially written to Skillet.

"Preparation can only take you so far. For the rest you must trust to the will of the cosmos."

Lont-riis, her Art of Life

Four Years Ago

"No one will speak to him or have any contact with him at all."

"What if he escapes, Warlord?"

"He will not escape." One of Vilgax's tentacles twitched in annoyance, and the Zithsian turned his back on his captain to survey the view from the ship's bridge. It was certainly an impressive one.

The Antarasin was Vilgax's personal warship, and it was both elegant and a marvel of Zithsian engineering. The ship was fast and deadly. It had been built in space and would never land, but in its element it was swift and deadly. Antarasin required a crew compliment of eighty, in addition to the battle droids and the thirty pilots needed to fly the smaller ships in the docking bay. Antarasin`s colour scheme was generally reds, blacks and grays; colours of power, proclaiming it a ship of the warlord.

From his position on the bridge, Vilgax could see four pilots working diligently at the controls; three Anceis and Thaa-ank. Their eyes flicked back and forth from the surrounding screens to the controls at their appendages, deftly interoperating the information provided by the ship`s scanners and the resulting recommendations. Traveling through the depths of space was no easy business, and the sixteen pilots on Vilgax`s flag-ship had all been trained since birth to communicate with the complicated ships` computers and read the constantly changing information they provided.

Vilgax`s eyes rested on the smooth curves and the cool metal of the computers, and their harmony with the curves of the ship itself. Behind him, he sensed his captain salute briefly, and then move to another part of the bridge to oversee some minor operation. The matter required no further discussion, and the captain was intelligent enough to realize that. Every crewmember on the Antarasin had traveled with Vilgax before and knew when they could push him for answers and when they could not.

Vilgax scanned the entirety of the bridge once more to ensure that everything was in order, and then he turned and headed towards his personal rooms in another part of the ship. He had just realized that he was feeling hungry. He had not eaten since early this morning before his visit to Bellwood, and at that thought he twitched one tentacle in mild amusement; he had nearly forgotten, and he had nearly forgotten something else as well.

Vilgax changed his course towards the kitchens. At least he was prepared. This would not take long, and then would retire to his rooms.

Once again, Ben was alone with his thoughts, only this time he was both panicked and confused.
After a moment, he realized that he was still standing there and staring at the door. He stumbled backwards jerkily until he could feel metal at his back, and then he leaned against the wall and let his head thunk against it gently. Hesitantly, he reached up until the forefinger of his right hand brushed the smooth metal circlet around his neck. He snatched his finger back at once, as though bitten, and then reached up again. This time, he let his fingers rest on the metal for a moment, and then he suddenly hooked them under the circle until they were between the metal and the front of his neck.

Then he closed his fingers over the metal tightly and yanked until it dug into the back of his neck. He yanked it again in another direction, gripping it until his fingers hurt where they closed around it and his breath was hitching in his throat. Then he released the collar and dropped his hand back to his side. He unclenched his left fist and felt the indents of his nails in the soft skin of his palm as they slowly returned to normal.

It was slightly flexible when he pulled on it, yet stiffened back into its original shape when he let go. An it didn't really feel like metal. It was lighter than it should have been, and felt as warm as his skin. Wrong.

Of course that was what he was worried about; how space metal was different from Earth metal.

Strangely, he felt a little calmer now; still scared, but slightly less panicked. He slumped back against the wall until he was sitting once again, and grabbed his knees with his hands. He just had to think. He'd dealt with shock collars before, back when he and Kevin had been imprisoned by that Slix robot. He had handled that, but those restraints hadn't had anything on this one, and at least during that experience he had had people to talk to, and people who could tell him what was going on.

He wished he could figure out why Vilgax was doing this.

Usually the alien's motives were clear; gain the omnitrix, kill Ben and anyone in the way. Nice and simple.

Impulsively, he rose from his crouch and began pacing. His cell was large, but it still didn't take him long to reach the far wall. The silence was beginning to get to him too. He wondered whether Vilgax was watching him through some secret camera waiting for him to crack. But why would the alien even care? True, Ben hadn't tangled with Vilgax that many times over the summer, but the alien had always been clear that he despised Ben for wasting the omnitrix's potential, and everyone else on earth simply for being human. He had even described his plan to Ben the very first time they had fought. He wanted to make thousands of omnitrixes and use them to equip an army. What reason could he possibly have for locking Ben up here with this thing on his neck?

The pacing seemed to have helped a little. At any rate, Ben now felt slightly less like a caged animal.

He resisted the urge to search for spy cameras. He didn't think he'd find them anyway. Instead, he crossed back to his side of the room and leaned against the wall again. He looked down at the omnitrix, bare on his wrist, wishing he could activate it. He hated feeling like this. It was worse than being chained up, because at least then it was some external thing keeping him from escaping, and it was clear what had to be done to break his bonds. He hated feeling so helpless, so out of his depth. He didn't know what to expect or prepare for, or even what he could do if he knew.

The door opened.

Ben turned at the sound to see one of the bipedal robots from earlier. He tensed, acutely aware of the command that he not leave the room or attack anyone on the ship. The robot was carrying a large gray bin of some kind of dark gray metal in both hands. It now set this on the floor, turned and left the cell, closing the door behind it.

Ben looked at this new addition to his room. After a moment, he walked over to it where it sat innocently on the floor. It was about two feet long and one and a half feet wide. It curved up into a lip about a foot from the floor, and was sealed by a curving lid of the same material. Like a large, metal casserole dish. At the thought, his stomach rumbled, and Ben placed a hand on it in surprise. He hadn't even noticed he was hungry.

He knelt down and lifted the lid on the container gingerly, again wondering whether he was being watched. The lid was lighter than it looked and came away from the container easily. It clanged softly as he set it on the floor next to him. He looked inside.

Well, it sort of looked like food.

Inside the container was a tall, capped cylinder that looked like a futuristic water bottle, (or a storage container for hazardous waste), and a round plate supporting what looked like six patties of various colours. There were two large dark brown, oval patties, three long and skinny ones coloured dark green with orange hints, and a pale yellow circular one. None of it looked all that appetizing, but it resembled food enough that Ben's stomach rumbled again. He was thirsty too, he now realized. When he swallowed his mouth and throat felt dry and dusty, and he thought he could still taste the smoke from Bellwood.

Bottom line, if Vilgax wanted to kill him, there were much easier ways. It also seemed to make sense to eat in order to keep his strength up in case the opportunity for escape somehow presented itself, although that reasoning might just be his stomach talking. He supposed he could just try it.

The container would be difficult to work around, so Ben reached inside and lifted the plate and the cylinder out and set them in front of him on the floor. There was no table in the room. He stared at the dishes for a moment, wondering what to try first. Finally, he decided that his thirst was the most immediate problem. He picked up the cylinder and, after examining it for a frustrating minute, figured out how it opened. He flicked the cap upwards and then looked into the tube, swirling the liquid inside to try to get a good look at it. It seemed like the consistency of water, but it was hard to tell the colour. He swallowed again. With it right in front of him, his throat burned insistently. Ben sighed mentally. At this point, he supposed he'd drink it no matter what colour it was.

He lifted the cylinder up to his mouth, tilted it, and drank. He swallowed the liquid, and then drank again. It was good. It tasted like fresh, clean water; cleaner than he had ever tasted before, and underneath the flavor of the water, he thought he could taste the faintest hint of strawberries. Ben set the container down again, half empty. He felt much better, and a little less hesitant about trying the food.

He selected one of the dark brown objects and picked it up in one hand. It was sort of the colour of well-cooked hamburger, but it didn't feel greasy, just dry.

It can't be worse than Grandpa's cooking, he thought, and took a bite.

It wasn't. It had a distinct meaty flavor, something like beef and something like pork, but belonging to neither. It wasn't as good as the stakes his dad cooked on the barbecue, but it was definitely palatable. The texture was sort of spongy and slightly off-putting, but the flavor made it bearable. He tried the rest of the food with similar results. The long green and orange things tasted like green beans and carrot, although the texture was similar to that of the meat-thing. The yellow circle tasted like a combination of oranges, bananas and butterscotch and almost seemed like something you would order in a cake shop, as the spongy texture was much more appropriate.

When he had cleaned the plate, Ben felt comfortably full. He finished off the remainder of the water, then replaced the dishes in the container and covered it. He wasn't sure why, except that it gave him something more to do.

Somehow the normal action of eating, even though the food was anything but normal, had taken the edge off his panic. He wouldn't be here forever. If he couldn't escape, and there was probably some way for him to, Gwen and Grandpa Max would come barreling to help him. Grandpa was a plumber, he must know some aliens who had spaceships or something. Ben put a hand up to his throat and felt the circlet there; still warm and yet metallic. He ran his thumb along its smooth surface.

And there must be some way to get this off, he thought.

What time was it?

Ben realized he was tired, so tired that his eyes felt dry and heavy. There were no clocks in the room, and the one thing the omnitrix couldn't do was tell time. It had been early afternoon when Vilgax had arrived, but Ben didn't know how long he had been in this room sitting here and freaking out. It must at least be evening by now. It didn't really matter. Like eating, resting was probably the smartest thing he could do right now. Tomorrow he would figure some way out of this.

Remembering the washroom he had discovered during his earlier search, Ben crossed to the back of his cell and opened the door. He used the toilet, which functioned just like the ones on Earth, then washed at the sink. There was a plastic wrapped toothbrush and an unopened tube of toothpaste on the counter beside the sink, but Ben ignored them and merely rinsed his mouth out with water from the tap, splashing some on his face as he did so. The water was as clean as the water that he been delivered to him at dinner, lacking only the hint of strawberries, and he drank some as well.

Ben wasn't sure why he didn't want to unwrap the toothbrush, only that using it would feel too much like he was going to be staying here for a while, and that wasn't a thought that he wanted to entertain.

As he exited the bathroom, Ben was struck again by the barrenness of his cell. He crossed to the bed against the wall and noticed for the first time that there was a small shelf in the wall underneath the bed. The shelf contained a set of light blue pajamas that looked disturbingly close to his size. Like the toothbrush, the pajamas seemed much to permanent to use, as well as adding an extra layer of creepy, which really wasn't necessary, and Ben pointedly ignored them, kicked off his shoes and lay down on the bed. There were blankets folded on the bed's foot, but it was warm in the room.

Ben lay on his back, hands behind his head, and stared at the ceiling, far above him.

I'm never getting to sleep, he thought. Though he was tired, his mind was still working, darting around and turning the day's events around and around. He drew in a deep breath and exhaled it slowly.

He didn't notice at first, but the edges of the room began to fade as the light gently began to dim. The light seemed to come from the small space at the top of the room where the walls met the ceiling. Was someone outside watching him and dimming the lights, or did the room itself know that he was trying to fall asleep. He thought about getting up and seeing whether the lights would come back on, but he was so tired now that he couldn't be bothered to move.

For the first time, the thought that his food might have been drugged came floating into his mind like a dark cloud. Idiot! He could have at least tried some and waited before eating the rest.

But even as he had the thought it drifted away from him again, out into the now completely darkened room and Ben found himself drifting away after it. Whether because of drugged food, or merely because he was exhausted from panic and from this very long day, Ben was asleep.

This chapter gave me a lot of trouble. I had to be Vilgax again, and again I had to watch out how much I gave away, which is really difficult! I also had trouble with Ben in this chapter. Poor guy's going through a lot. He's usually so happy-go-lucky in the show, and I want to keep him realistic and in character while realizing that he must be freaking out a little at this point.

Hope it came out alright in the end.

And also, I couldn't find the correct name for Vilgax's species. If anyone knows, and has the time to send me a message about it I would really appreciate it.

I got some ideas for the food in this chapter from Allen Dean Foster's excellent Lost and Found trilogy.

In addition to all the problems, I've also been really busy, so you're only getting this chapter because of all the awesome reviews I got. And maaaaybe because I'm a wee bit obsessed with this story right now.

I'm going up to a cottage on Wednesday and will not have internet until I get back next week. However, I am going to be writing up there, and plan to have another chapter for you by the time I get back.

Until then, thanks for continuing to read through all these delays. You guys are awesome!