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: I've been thinking about how to present certain elements at the core of this story. Elements that are at the core of the humor of this story. So, I am giving you fair warning. I might need to raise the rating to M. If I do, I can assure you that I will not forget the boundaries between M and MA.
Chapter 3
Siege Survival
While they waited for their promised dinner, they checked their rooms as best they could, and tried to remember more about what happened to them. That's when an interesting, and disturbing, point came up. Gene and Melfina had been placed in the same room by their captures, which was the one of two rooms with a double bed. Suzuka was in the other one, on the same side as Gene and Melfina. While they didn't think too much of it while still recovering from the gas, now that they were recovered, it raised many questions.
"I guess that explains six seats, but only four rooms." Jim observed. "But how long where they watching us if they knew you two were together?"
"It's not like that's a secret, Jim." Aisha reminded him.
"But it also wasn't in the press, as we are not considered celebrities." Suzuka pointed out. "And while we know how he feels about her, public displays of affection are not in Gene's nature, except where it involved his pre-Melfina lechery."
"Hey!" Gene objected.
Suzuka ignored him. "By that standard, they'd be more likely to believe he was with Iris instead of Melfina."
"Suzuka!" Gene continued to object.
"Relax, Gene. We all know that that is in your past. It's simply that the casual observer might not know. Therefore, whoever gathered this intelligence would have had to do some careful observation."
"Even so, what I want to know is why they would care?" Jim asked. "I mean, they could have easily put two of the ladies together, assuming you'd treat it like a schoolgirl sleep over." Suzuka raised a questioning eyebrow. "Old stories I've been reading." Jim answered, blushing slightly.
"Cooperative." Melfina said. "Ron said that their boss wanted the main target cooperative. Maybe it's part of that."
"But that would suggest that one of us is the primary." Gene said, indicating he and Melfina.
"I will agree that, if true, it would seem to suggest that. But it would seem unwise to discard all other options this early."
As time wore on, Aisha offered to lift Jim up so he could get a better look at the protrusions at the end of the main room. "Are you sure you're up to it, Aisha?"
"Will you calm down already?" Aisha chided. "I'm doing fine. Ctarl-Ctarl medical knowledge is the best in the galaxy, so of course what they trained me to do worked!"
"You sure sound like you're back to normal." Jim observed wryly.
"Of course! Trust me, Jim, I'm not going to drop you." Without waiting for Jim's reaction, Aisha moved behind him, grabbed him at the hips, and began to lift.
"You really don't want to do that." Came a gravelly, growl-like voice from the area of the bars. They turned to see a large Ctarl-Ctarl male. He was dressed in a rather nondescript brown pseudo uniform, and he was standing next to a cart that had five covered plates on it. They also noticed that a light shield had been activated, completely covering the main opening within millimeters of the bars. "The boss said if you mess around with that stuff, we get to starve you."
Aisha quickly sat Jim down. "And why should we believe that when MacDougall told us . . ."
"Aisha!" Gene interrupted.
"Oh, let me guess." The guard began. "He told you that we need one of you alive, and preferably cooperative, right?"
"And if he did?" Suzuka countered.
"Thing is, our prey will be picked up in time to prevent complete starvation. Assuming that person is in good health. So if you want to test your health against starvation, go right ahead. Otherwise, do what you're told, and you get to eat."
"As long as it's not that damned stew." Gene said.
The guard laughed. "No. The boss was smart enough to give you something easy for all of you to eat, even though it is far too bland for me. Now, if you want to eat, go into the rooms you woke up in."
"Why?" Melfina asked.
"Security. Boss's orders."
For a moment, nobody moved. Then Suzuka turned. "Very well. Let's see what this is all about, shall we?"
First Jim, then the others followed her lead. Once the last of them cleared their room's opening, a light shield activated in each. Then, two more light shields activated, one from each of the mysterious protrusions, all the way across to the bars. "What the heck?!" Jim exclaimed.
"I know it seems like overkill on security." The guard said as he pushed a button on a wristband he was wearing, dropping the light shield at the bars. As he opened the door and came in with the cart, he continued. "But this is why the boss has you here, and this is how the boss wants it done. Redundant systems on just about everything." He placed the plates on the table, one each in front of five of the chairs. "This red rimmed plate is formulated for Ctarl-Ctarl needs, including calories, but the truth is that you'll all be fine no matter where you seat down." After placing the last plate, he lifted the lids on them, to revel.
"Ration bars?!" Aisha exclaimed.
"Why would you use such a fancy presentation for something so simple?" Melfina asked.
"Should I take them away?"
"What? No, of course not."
"But I'm sure you understand the oddity of it all." Suzuka remarked.
"Mmm. True. And we won't be using covers again." He piled the covers up on the cart, than made his way out of the cell. Closing the door, he reactivated the light shied there. Then he deactivated the light shields cutting across the room, followed by the ones at the room openings. "But I neither know nor care why my orders are what they are. I'm here for the payday. Now, you have half an hour to eat. Then I'll be back, and we do this all over again so I can collect the plates. Anything you don't eat by then, you lose." With that, he pushed the cart away, the same direction Ron MacDougall had gone.
After a moment, Suzuka, quickly followed by the others, approached the table. "And now we have some more answers."
"I've never seen a light shield emitter that could cross a room this size without being paired to one at the other end. I didn't think it was possible." Jim remarked.
"Indeed. The security implications are quite impressive." Suzuka observed.
"So, do we eat?" Gene asked.
"Nothing thus far has changed my opinion." Suzuka answered.
Jim sat down at the plate closest to his room. After a moment's hesitation, he started eating. Everyone seemed surprised by that. "Jim?" Melfina asked. "I thought you weren't sure about it."
"I'm not. But we do need to eat. So I decided to be the guinea pig."
"I understand, James." Suzuka said as she sat down and lifted her bar. "However, as it was my idea, I would have preferred if I was the one risked first."
"Will you two knock it off!" Aisha chided as she sat down. "I think Suzu's right about the food. Let's eat."
Gene and Melfina watched their friends eating for a moment, then they sat down and joined them. They all agreed that the ration bars were as bland as promised. The Ctarl guard returned as promised, and they went through the whole process again. After he closed the door, he turned back to face them. "Since there is no clock in here, we are under orders to dim the lights in here to let you know when it's nighttime. To be precise, lights dim at 2200 Locust time, lights up at 0600. Oh, and if your mated pair want to do that, we don't care. But, know that the openings can't be sealed except with this." He tapped his wristband. "So unless you can be quiet about it, your friends will hear everything."
After he left, and Aisha confirmed that the door at the end of the hall had closed, they began discussing what all had happened. "Does the fact that they're using Locust time mean we're near Locust?" Aisha asked.
"Maybe." Suzuka said. "But I think it's more likely that they are using it because we've been living in Locust. Considering how unusually polite our captures have been, due to orders from above, I suspect they were also ordered to keep us on the time system we are used to."
"And it has the added benefit of not giving away our location the way a sudden time zone change would." Jim remarked.
"Also true." Suzuka agreed.
"Well, they may be treating us better than expected, but the fact is that we are still captives." Gene reminded them. "So I think we need to start looking for a way out of here."
"Is that your way of saying you're horny?" Jim asked.
"Hey! It's not about that!"
"It's not?" Melfina asked. It was difficult to tell whose face grew redder, Gene or Jim.
"That's enough out of you three." Suzuka cut in. "While I do think we need to know more before we act, I would agree that we should start to consider our options. However, what I'm interested in is the fact that we have at least one Ctarl-Ctarl on our security detail."
"Probably got thrown out of the military." Aisha remarked. "Many of the ones that don't cut it turn mercenary. Although I'm not sure what that pretend uniform was about."
"Maybe if he was thrown out, he wants to feel like he's still in." Melfina offered.
"I've heard of worse reasons for a wardrobe choice." Suzuka admitted. "But my concern goes toward the gas."
"You think there's a connection?" Jim asked.
"Possibly. Aisha said that their military were trying to make ghrighri root gas for research. That guard, or a Ctarl we haven't seen yet, may have obtained some for this."
"But last I knew, that was a close secret. If that's how it happened, whoever did do it would be up on treason charges."
"Would they be exiled?" Melfina asked.
"Rarely. Most likely sentence would be an airlock."
"If they got caught." Gene added. "Sounds like a great reason to go AWOL and self-exile."
"Yeah, maybe." Aisha reluctantly agreed.
The rest of the evening passed uneventfully. When the lights dimmed as promised, the group slowly took their leave and went to bed. Sleep didn't come easily, so soon after their gas-induced slumber. But it did come eventually.
XzXzXzXzXzXzX
Next chapter, things heat up. One mistake leads to a sequence of events that leaves one life in jeopardy. And the solution as something none would have predicted.