Chapter One

Less than twenty-four hours before this incident in the mess hall Major Lorne and his team consisting of Lieutenants Cayton, Keane, and Shingleton had just stepped through the gate to a new planet they had yet to explore. These were the missions Lorne enjoyed. Whether it was finding ruins, a new civilization, or even just an unusual geological formation. The MALP they had sent through a few minutes ago had reported little more than a well-worn path and lots of forest. But, the well-worn and rather wide path with wheel ruts indicated there was some kind of settlement nearby.

After the initial survey of the surrounding area, Lorne signaled his team to relax as he took a deep breath of the fresh air filled with the scent of forest loam. He may be a city boy by birth, but he'd always enjoyed the forest for at least short periods of time. Atlantis had given him a whole new appreciation for the scent of anything other than salty sea air. Setting off at an easy pace, the four of them headed along the path to where it led up the nearby hill.

The scene that greeted them at the top of the hill had all four stopping to appreciate it. Spread out below them for miles and miles was a huge valley that stretched to the horizon. Amid little patches of trees were countless fields of crops. Lorne could feel his fingers itching for a canvas and some paint. Just below them at the first level part of the valley the path connected to, sprawled a small city of what looked like one to two storey buildings from a distance. By the looks of it they were not very technologically advanced. The center of the city seemed to have a few stone buildings, but most of them were wooden houses and huts with thatched roofs. Hoping they were as friendly as the well-worn path indicated, the Major set a pace that would get them there in roughly twenty minutes.

Thirty minutes later Major Lorne was making introductions to some of the locals who were as friendly as he'd hoped. It wasn't long before a meeting between himself and the village elders had been set up in the local meeting hall that served as a tavern as well. Not sensing any threat, Lorne dismissed the rest of his team to look around the town and make friendly with the locals. Meanwhile, he set his mind to laying the groundwork for opening talks between them and Atlantis to open communications and possibly trade.

Keane and Shingleton, curious about the architecture of the central buildings, casually made their way toward the building at the center of town. Despite the overall friendly atmosphere and almost jovial decorative style of all the other buildings, this one seemed dark and foreboding. As they approached, however, it was clear that it was open to the public as it appeared more like a plaza with a very high roof than an actual closed-in building. Cayton, trailing along behind the other two wasn't paying attention to any particular thing as he took in the friendly smiles and laid back atmosphere.

Spotting some interesting carvings along the walls, Keane and Shingleton made their way under the outer overhang of the building. Nearby a handful of people in robes were standing around a large boulder in the center of the plaza. Cautiously they took a few steps in that direction with solemn expressions and querying glances to the robed figures. Seeing they were not warned away visually or verbally, Keane and Shingleton approached. For a few minutes they just watched the men in robes of various colors praying to the boulder they assumed represented some kind of god. To them the statue appeared little more than a lump of stone with roughly carved out facial features. Finding this of little interest, they turned back to the rather detailed carvings along the inner walls underneath the outer overhang.

Cayton, standing a few meters away watched some kids playing some sort of game with a ball that had all of them squealing and giggling. Turning his attention back toward his teammates, he watched as Keane pointed something out to Shingleton that had them both laughing a moment later at whatever had been said. Curious, he started to walk over to them with a grin on his face. A heartbeat later he froze in his tracks and had to refrain from reaching for his P90 as the robed figures suddenly surrounded his teammates shouting angrily. Their training kicking in, the two men raised their hands non-threateningly, but were grabbed from all sides. Glancing back, Keane caught sight of Cayton and nodded in a clear signal to get to Major Lorne, fast.

Keeping his distance, Lieutenant Cayton followed his teammates as they were lead away toward a nearby stone building.

"Lieutenant Cayton for Major Lorne."

"Lorne here, go ahead," Cayton heard as a robed figure took off at a flat run toward the tavern.

"Sir, we have a bit of a situation. Lieutenants Keane and Shingleton were just lead away by some guys in robes. Nothing violent, but we may have a problem. I'm following them now."

"Yeah, one of them just came in here. Watch, but don't do anything. Standby."

With a sick feeling growing in the pit of his stomach, Cayton did just that. He watched, but kept a good distance from the building as he saw his two friends being shoved inside and the door closed. The building not being very large, it was easy to see through the roughly hewn stone windows as the two were left to stand there in confusion. Making eye contact one more time, Shingleton nodded and pointed toward his earpiece to let Cayton know they were able to listen to any instructions coming from the Major. All three shrugged at each other and shook their heads. Whatever they had done to offend the locals, they knew their team leader would handle and they'd still all be home by dinner time.