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 the benefit of any that need reminding, the Sith were a species mentioned in the prolog to "Advanced Guard from Another World". The only details given are a shadowy image, and the fact that there are difficulties in associating with them. And these Sith have nothing to do with that other series.

Chapter 2

The Threat Gets Personal

It was about half an hour before Aisha progressed from groans to tossing to opening her eyes. "What . . . oh, my head."

"Take it easy, Aisha." Jim gently told her.

"I don't remember drinking last night."

"You didn't."

"Then why do I feel like this?"

"I'll tell you. But I need you to promise not to jump or overreact."

"Jim . . ."

"Promise me, friend."

She looked at him sharply. "You haven't quite gotten your Suzu tone right."

"Aisha."

"Fine, fine, Jim. I'll restrain myself. Not that that's tough with this headache."

"It might be worse."

Jim's serious tone, still laced with fear, grabbed her attention. "How?"

Jim took a breath. "We were gassed and taken captive."

"Gas! Ohhhhh."

"Aisha!" Jim admonished. "Please!"

"Okay, Jimmy." Aisha spoke softly, holding her head. "I get it. The gas is why I feel like this."

"Yeah."

"Now tell me why I can hear and smell the fear you're feeling." Jim closed his eyes. "Please, Jimmy. You're my favorite human. I need you to be honest with me."

"I thought I'd prepared for this." He opened his eyes and looked straight into hers. "Aisha. You were unconscious longer than any of us. While you were unconscious, you were perfectly still. And you know you toss in your sleep. I won't pretend to be a doctor, but Suzuka correctly reminded me that I learned a lot about the Ctarl-Ctarl when I updated our medical database. And the only thing I could think of that could account for all that, without killing you outright, is ghrighri root." Aisha's eyes bulged in shock. "Can you think of anything else, anything at all, that would knock out a Ctarl for longer than a human without guaranteed death."

Aisha thought for a moment. But only a moment. "Sorry, Jim, but my head hurts too much to think. But I thought ghrighri root couldn't work as a gas."

"Lacking for a better answer," Suzuka spoke from the doorway, "we are assuming that somebody has found a way to make it work long enough for their purposes."

"Well, I know our military doctors were worried somebody could. In fact, they were trying to do it."

"Really?" Suzuka asked.

"Yeah. What I was told was that they wanted to try to study it in order to see if current antidotes work as well if the root goes through the lungs instead of the stomach."

"Yes, I can see the concern. No stomach acids to go through, more direct access to the blood/oxygen system. That could change things."

"Can you imagine what would happen if the Sith made a stable gas before we had an antidote?"

"Easily. They'd use it to start a new war against your people."

"Yeah." Aisha agreed. "And I understand your worry, Jim. Please, help me get up and moving."

"Aisha, are you sure?"

"Yeah. I remember from fleet school. Mild ghrighri poisoning can be fought off by moving. Get the blood flowing, doing work, and the kidneys can flush the poisoned blood cells out faster as the body makes new ones fast enough to match the workload."

"Which shortens the amount of time they have to suffocate you." Suzuka said in understanding as she moved to Aisha. Together, she and Jim carefully got Aisha on her feet. They then led her out to the main room of their joint cell.

Aisha looked around. "Wow, they really went all out, didn't they?"

"Yeah." Gene agreed. "And we still have no idea who 'they' are."

"How are you, Aisha?"

"Head spinning. But if what they said is right, I need to try to walk it out of me."

"Don't worry, Mel. We won't let go of her." Jim said.

Melfina smiled. "I'm sure you won't, Jim." Suzuka slightly raised her hand to Melfina, and silently mouthed the word 'later'. Melfina nodded her understanding. "If either of you get tired, Gene and I can help."

"What?" Gene said before Melfina glared at him. "Oh, right, yeah, we'll help."

As it turned out, they weren't needed. As Aisha made her way around the room, her movement and speed slowly began to improve. With plenty of water from the sink in her room, delivered via the small plastic cup that had been there, Aisha was able to literally flush her system enough of the poisoned cells to feel close to normal after about three hours. Once she felt strong enough to walk around on her own, Suzuka and Jim sat down, Jim keeping an eye on his friend. "James, you didn't notice to cups in our rooms?"

Jim blushed. "No, sensei."

Suzuka nodded. "I understand the gas was affecting you. But you should have been more careful. Those cups could have been something more dangerous."

"Yes, sensei."

"At least these years of training have taught you respect, if nothing else." Gene quipped.

"Bite me, Gene."

"It has also taught him WHO to respect." Suzuka remarked.

"Can we talk about why we are in here? And how we're getting out?" Melfina asked.

"I'd love to know who and why, but the only clues we have are in the cell itself." Gene answered. "We haven't seen any guards yet. No other contact has been made."

"Well, whoever it is, they're careful in the extreme." Jim remarked.

Suzuka smiled. "I would agree. Let's compare our reasons, James."

"Well, first, everything that can be is craved out of the stone the cell was carved out of. Only the bars, the mattresses, the moving parts on the sinks and toilets, the lights, and whatever those things are," Jim pointed to the two protrusions Suzuka had pointed out to him earlier, "are made of something else."

"Yeah, and sitting on a stone toilet seat is NOT comfortable!" Aisha exclaimed.

"And really, who thinks about carving the table and chairs out of the rock while craving out this cell?" Gene added. "Really over the top."

"But that goes to James's point." Suzuka pointed out. "While I would have said paranoid instead of careful, I think both words apply equally. Furthermore, as Gene pointed out earlier, we haven't seen any guards."

"Right." Gene came in here. "And in any another situation, that might mean our captures are overconfident. However, add that to the rest, and it means that they don't want to give us any clues about who they are."

"And our means of capture further prove the point." Suzuka added. "Instead of confronting us, they managed to gas us in our home." Starwind and Hawking had managed to rent a space with enough rooms so that Aisha and Suzuka could have a room to use when they wanted or needed.

"Cowards!" Aisha exclaimed.

"Maybe." Jim said, smiling at her outburst, which was almost to her usual boisterous standard. 'She really is amazing' he thought to himself. "But it also means that their stealth and other skills are top level. I mean, they did it to us in our home without alerting any of us! Not my security system, not your Ctarl senses, and not Sensei's awareness. Nothing! Worse, they activated it when they knew we'd all be there and awake. That means they were watching us."

"And they used a gas none of us were able to detect until it was too late. Cowards or not, it all goes toward the idea of them being extremely careful about this." Suzuka continued her point. "Makes me wonder exactly whom they're protecting."

"Wait a minute." Gene said, realizing something. "You think they wanted us alive, and only alive? Like, maybe, they were under orders?"

Suzuka nodded. "If so, that could give us an advantage."

"Don't bet on it." Came a far too familiar voice from the past. "Our boss demands we do everything we can to deliver one of you alive and cooperative. That cooperative part is why the rest of you are still alive." As the speaker walked into view on the other side of the bars, they saw that it was none other than Ron MacDougall. "But if the others give us too much trouble, we can damage them for a small financial penalty. And no, I'm not going to tell you which of you is the primary I need healthy. Can't give away my advantage, now can I?"

"And I don't suppose you'd be willing to tell us who paid you for this?" Jim asked.

"Actually, I think it would be interesting to watch you react to that. But orders or orders, so no, I won't be telling you."

"Never figured you for a lap dog." Gene shot at him.

"I've always been a business man first, Starwind." Ron replied. "I just happen to know how to blend my jobs with my personal agenda. It's why I'm a success, and you're a failure." Gene growled. "I'd love to continue to trade insults with you, but I came here to tell you that your food will be delivered soon. And don't worry, Aisha, I've been banned from using more ghrighri root unless you force the issue."

"BASTARD!" Jim yelled at him. "You could have killed her!"

"Really, kid, you should know I'm too good at what I do for an accident. If I meant for her to be dead, she would be." Jim continued to glare it him. "Now, you will do as you're told when your food comes, or one of the secondary targets will find out just how rough we're allowed to be." Ron walked away with that.

Aisha carefully moved toward the bars, holding a hand up to signal to her friends that she was listening to him walk away. After a couple of minutes, she lowered her hand. "Wow, that door he just went through was so soft, I almost missed it."

"Why did he tell us that?" Melfina asked. "I mean, after Harry died at the Leyline, he must hate us. So why tell us all that."

"He was taunting us, Mel." Gene answered.

"Maybe. He has allowed the personal to overtake him where Harry is concerned. But he is also a cold-hearted manipulator, so we must not discount the possibility that he is playing a deeper game." Suzuka commented.

"You think it might be like Farfallas? Working with one employer only as long as necessary, then betraying them for another employer?" Jim asked.

"He does have a history of double and triple dealing." Gene agreed. "Great. So now what?"

"We wait for our food." Suzuka answered.

"But, should we eat it?" Melfina asked.

"NO!" Jim answered.

"Yes." Suzuka counted.

"Sensei?"

"Ron MacDougall prefers lies of omission and vocabulary games to outright lying. Between what he told us and the fact that he is clearly enjoying having us under his control, I believe his claim that he won't harm us unless provoked." She took Jim's hand in hers. "You know I understand your concern, James. I would not risk," she quickly glanced at Aisha before refocusing on her friend and student, "anyone if I wasn't sure."

Jim closed his eyes, took a cleansing breath, then opened them. "I trust you, sensei. But I'm still worried."

Suzuka gave him a small smile. "I'd be surprised if you weren't."

"Did I miss something?" Aisha asked.

"Yes." Suzuka answered simply.

"And you're not going to tell me?!"

"Aisha. There are things you and I talk about that I don't tell Jim. Should I tell him now?"

"WHAT!? No you can't!" Aisha panicked,

"So should Jim not be allowed his own confidences?"

"Well, yeah, but . . . okay, fine."

Gene and Melfina watched the exchange, then shared a look. Yeah, they thought they knew what that was all about.

"In any event, the nature of the food, and the guard who delivers it, could give us more information about our situation."

"And information is more valuable than dragonite in a situation like this." Jim agreed. Then he lowered his voice to barely a whisper. "If we're going to try an escape, we'll only have one chance."