"Those who live by the sword get shot by those who don't"
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
The three humans beamed down onto Pladonis just outside the neutral city of Tomac, as per the plan. The walk to the city would give Mac and SAM time to adjust to the fact that they were on a different planet. It also would give Jack the chance to go over a few last minute safety details involving off world travel. SAM took the sudden change of location in stride, the benefits of youth, but Mac reached out to grab a hold of his brother's arm, startled.
"Woah, cool!" SAM spun around, trying to absorb everything he could see, while Jack did the same, though for threat assessment. Once he was certain that no one was around to ambush them, he grabbed SAM's shoulders and pointed him in the direction of the city.
"That way Sport,"
SAM turned to look at him and stuck out his tongue, but began walking anyway. He was too excited to be annoyed… for now.
Mac on the other hand was in complete awe and more quiet about it,
"This doesn't look too alien. It looks like southern Canada,"
"Most of 'em aren't that different. Well, there was one planet that was all sand; it was bright yellow, like sulfur. There was one that had purple trees and one where the sky was red...but this is pretty much the norm,"
"Really?"
"Yup," he said cheerfully.
They both walked in a companionable silence, enjoying the scenery on their way to the city, watching SAM walk ahead of them, his camera out. Mac was just happy that he had seemed to forget his little dip in the ice the other day. Mac, though, would never forget.
"You know, you're probably not gonna be allowed to keep those," Jack said sarcastically, loud enough to cover the short distance between them.
"Yeah, I know," SAM answered back as he turned and walked backwards a few steps to take a picture of his dad and uncle, "…but, it's still fun to take them." Besides, he had a plan. He had sneaked film out of countries plenty of times before; he would find a way. There was no way that he would put Jack at risk by publishing them, he just wanted to keep them for sentimental value. He waited until the two older men caught up, then all three continued on to the city, which they could now see was not far away.
"You know… this doesn't look very…alien-ish," SAM commented offhandedly. The two brothers just looked at each other and rolled their eyes.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
They were silent as they finally approached the outer limits of Tomac. It was a large city that contained many tall buildings, though none over nine stories, and many that looked like big blocks. Sam commented on how spooky it was that the city just started immediately. It was as if they crossed an invisible line that separated the beautiful uninhabited country that they just traipsed to the hustle and bustle of "downtown".
Their sudden appearance attracted the attention of a passerby, who was traveling on what looked like to Jack a cross between an old Belladonna and a Segway scooter. He motored away quickly while screaming for somebody to call the Guard.
"Well, that's one way to make an entrance," Mac quipped while looking at his brother, asking the silent question of what now?
"We should head towards the tallest building, Thor said that that was the capitol."
"Yeah, and lets hope that we don't get arrested by the 'Guard' before we get there," SAM suggested.
"Thor said that they would be expecting us," and Jack certainly hoped that Thor was right. Otherwise, they would be in for a whole heap of trouble, and he wasn't in the mood.
The three men kept on walking, but it wasn't long before they were surrounded by a dozen men: obviously the 'Guard'. They were uniformed in long deep purple coats with golden tassels on their shoulders. They leveled old-fashioned type muskets at them as Jack reflexively moved his hand to his 9mm that was in its holster on his leg. He hadn't brought the P90 out of respect for Mac, but there was no way that he would go off world without some sort of gun.
One of the purple garbed men stepped forward. The only sign of importance or rank was his crisp white hat that was similar to a Navy Officer's.
"Halt! State your destination and your business here, newcomers. You are unfamiliar to us."
Mac brought his hands up to show that he wasn't armed and stepped forward, it reminded Jack of Daniel and his 'we are peaceful travelers' spiel. It was his show now.
"We are negotiators. We have been sent for to talk to the leaders of Clatia and Tyrea…" The leader put down his weapon and signaled for the rest of his men to do so.
"Take us to your leader," Jack murmured under his breath sotto voice, and SAM, who was right next to him, snorted. Mac turned around, hearing SAM's ill contained amusement and glared at who he knew was the source before turning his attention back to the man in front if him. Jack just stared at his twin innocently.
"You are the ones then… I am called Goran, I am chief of the Guard of Tomac. I have been instructed to escort you to the capitol to begin discussions."
"Thank you Goran," Mac said as he returned the bow of the chief and introduced himself, "I am MacGyver, and this is Jack O'Neill and my son SAM."
"I am very honored to meet you. Now, the ministers are expecting you. Please, this way," Goran gestured for them to move on down the street and Jack relaxed his hand away from his gun.
They passed stores, bakeries, pubs, office buildings, and places of residence before they arrived in front of a large, tall, steel building. There were other men who were obviously members of the Guard, conspicuous in their purple attire, who were posted outside the entrance. Goran spoke with the officer at the door and showed him a pass before the guard waved the rest of their group through. Only two of the other Guard in their group proceeded inside with them.
At their curious looks, Goran explained,
"It is an agreed upon rule that there cannot be more than twenty Guard in the capitol building at one time."
"Why not?"
"To prevent a coup. The Guard, though nonaligned, is composed of mainly soldiers and officers from Clatia. Very few Tyreans chose to participate for the benefit of neutrality. Despite this, they fear that when their minister, Minister Klax, comes to negotiate that we will assassinate him," he said the last part in a low voice, "The ministers are not allowed to have their own soldiers accompany them, only the Guard."
"Sort of like the Swiss Guard," SAM concluded. Goran just gave him a blank look. "Where we come from, we have-"
"Never mind that SAM," Jack interrupted, not wanting to give anything away about Earth no matter how inconsequential. He turned to Goran and asked, "Are both…ministers…here?"
"Yes, pardon me, I should cease conversing and ensue with my duties. Right this way." He walked over to an intercom unit and told someone on the other end about the visitors they were waiting for having finally arrived. While he waited for confirmation, he turned to his guest and asked them politely to turn in any weapons they might have.
Jack looked decidedly uncomfortable, and Goran assured him that they would be returned once the talks were through. SAM and Mac turned in their zats, and a knife each, but by unspoken consent they kept their Swiss army knives. Jack, meanwhile, removed the clip to his 9mm and kept that while he turned the actual gun over to Goran. He also kept two of the knives that he had hidden on his persons. One was in his boot, and the other was strapped under his pants to the inside of his leg. He did, however, have to take off the more conspicuous dagger that was attached to his belt.
"That's a good knife, I want it back."
Goran nodded in respect. A loud buzz came from the intercom box informing him that they were authorized to join the ministers' conference. He ushered the three visitor passed the desk and through a door that closed automatically after they were inside the tiny room.
Mac looked around. The small, circular room had no walls, only widows, except for the door, which was made of a shiny metal. When the room suddenly started moving he realized that they were in an elevator. It looked more like a small lounge though, with a couch in the center and a potted dark red plant for decoration.
"Cool," SAM muttered as he walked over to one of the windows and took in the view of the building's lobby below while he quickly snapped off another picture.
A couple seconds later, the doors opened once more and revealed two sentries for a door at the end of the hallway. Upon seeing Goran and his group, one of the Guard knocked on the door and, receiving some verbal command that neither of the Earthlings could hear, he went in and announced the group to all present at the negotiation table.
Jack had an odd mental image of lambs going to the slaughter.
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Author's Note: I thought it was time for another update ; ) Now that school's out and finals/ AP exams are over, I'll be able to get some more writing done. Thanks again to all of you who have been reviewing, it motivates me to get more down on paper!
This one's for all of those brave souls who fight for our freedom and those who are prepared and those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for all of us! Happy Memorial Day! And THANK YOU!!!