"You have been surrounded. If you attack, you die."
The words hung in the night air as Lieutenant Taylor and his men floated in the water in the battered old canoe. The spotlights, wherever they were coming from, blinded the four man team to anything beyond the confines of the small boat. Jarin looked back toward the rear of the craft, hoping that he hadn't just gotten his men killed by chasing off after Lopez and Grissom. His thoughts were interrupted as a line of rope was thrown in between Private Brian Smith and himself. Before anyone could offer a question as to why the voice boomed out again, seemingly coming from all around the small canoe.
"Attach the rope to the front of boat."
Jarin continued to shield his eyes from the bright light as he did as instructed. Just over the front side of the bow he felt the large steel eye-hook, screwed in the wooden frame of the boat. Soon after the rope was tied through the hole and knotted the lights were aimed upward into the night sky. The crew blinked rapidly, rubbing at their eyes to deal with the bright spots in their vision. Within a few moments some semblance of night vision returned to the men as a small boat pulled up alongside the canoe.
Trent Jackson looked at the rear of the craft, noting that Smith's theory of these people, whoever the hell they were, were using motorized boats was correct, as much as he didn't want to give the private the satisfaction of hearing him say it out loud. The motor was nearly silent and he supposed that they missed the approaching boats, four by his count as he looked around, due to sound of their rowing feverishly through the open water toward their unknown destination. He looked up into the boat as the operator, his hand still on the rudder control in front of the outboard motor, got their attention.
"Your weapons." He pointed back into the empty hull in front of him.
Trent looked toward the bow to the lieutenant who quickly began helping the privates move the gear and weapons into the other. Trent hesitated, his eyes darting around the water to keep tabs on the other boats. Suddenly he felt Jarin jar his right shoulder.
"Give me your weapons, Jackson." Jarin held out his hand. "We're surrounded, probably outgunned as well, so unless you want to die out here in the middle of the damn bay, I would do what they say."
Trent shoulders slumped as he relinquished his pistol and rifle. As soon as Jarin set the rifles in the other craft and returned to his own, the operator pulled away. Private Smith, now at the front of the boat, saw the line Jarin had attached earlier grow taut as the boat was towed through the gently rolling water of the bay. The four men looked around as the boats' motors opened up, humming loudly in the cool night air. The group rode the waves in silence for nearly 20 minutes until the hum of the motors died down. In front of the tow boat, lights burst out atop the water, illuminating the outline of the massive structure in the water.
Jarin looked back to Brian. "Well, looks like you were right about the oil rig."
"Being taken prisoner kind of takes the fun out of being right."
The groups' attention was drawn to a row of red lights that flickered to life, seemingly right on top of the water. Within a few moments they found themselves seamlessly pulled alongside a makeshift dock and two men stood on the platform, tying off the boat and motioning for the four teammates to follow them. Clambering out of the small craft, the team followed their captors, who conspicuously hadn't bound their captives' hands. Jarin soon noticed why, as the four were led into a cargo container.
One of their captors turned his head back towards his shoulder to speak to them. "Stay."
The team stood, confused, in the center of the container as the doors on both sides began to close. Jarin ran to the door, only to have it close just as he reached it. In the darkness he heard Trent.
"I've got a bad feeling about this."
Jarin leaned against the side of the container. "Well, let's just hope no one gets his hand cut off or finds out who his real father is."
Despite the darkness, Jarin could almost see the utter confusion of Private Williams' face. "Come again, sir?"
"Jason, do you mean to tell me your dad never had your watch Empire Strikes Back?"
"Um...what? You have me at a loss, lieutenant."
"So the phrase "May the Force be with you.' means nothing to you?
"Williams, when we get home we're going to have work on your pop culture intake. Like, a lot."
At that moment, the container rocked slightly and a mechanical whir from above drew their attention as the group felt the tell-tale tug of an elevator when the container began traveling upward. The container soon came to a stop and Jarin quickly moved away from the door he had ran toward as it was slowly pulled away. Thanks to the moonlight from the quickly clearing night sky, the team was able to pick out several men standing guard around a shorter figure at the head of the container. Jarin cautiously approached the group, keeping his hands in plain view.
The front two guards split, allowing the lieutenant to pass. He could clearly see now that the figure was a woman. He stood a few inches taller than her, though her curly hair nearly made up the height difference by itself. The glare made it fairly obvious this was not a person Jarin wanted to cross.
Instead, he opted for a more light-hearted approach. "So, who goes first?" The woman's eyes narrowed. "I mean, you have my men and I pretty boxed in, and by the way your men are holding those rifles, you know what you're doing." He looked around, noting all the rifles were still indeed trained on him. "And despite the fact that you kidnapped my men, I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt."
"Why?" The woman's tone was harsh, as though trying to provoke a reaction.
"Because if you wanted us dead we would have been long before found this rig."
The woman nodded, and her men lowered their weapons. "On that, we agree. Tell me, who are you?"
"My name is Jarin Taylor, these are my men." He motioned for his team to stand behind him. "Trent Jackson, Jason Williams, and Brian Smith. The only thing we want is to find our friends, the men you captured, and get back to our mission."
The woman turned to speak privately with a man before turning back. "We cannot give them to you, not until we are sure."
"Sure of what?"
"That you are not agents of our enemy."
Jarin was even further confused by the turn in the conversation. "Enemy? What enemy?"
The woman nodded and her men moved to bind the wrists of the four men. Once they were bound she walked up to Jarin and pulled a knife almost faster than he could see. He stifled a scream as he felt the knife rip through his forearm. The woman's eyes never left his face, narrowing at his response to the pain.
"It seems we have our answer." She cut Jarin's bindings, leaving the lieutenant in a whirlwind of confusion, something the woman picked up on. "I do apologize for the drama, but we have to be certain you are not infected."
Jarin clamped his left hand on the opposite forearm in an attempt to stem the blood slowly oozing out of the shallow cut. "Infected?"
The woman nodded. "Yes, but that is all I can say for now. If your men wish to accompany you to see your friends, they will need to be tested the same way."
Jarin looked back at his team. Trent spoke for himself and the privates. "Seems a pretty small price to pay to after everything else sir."
Taylor turned back to the woman. "Do it, and then you had better keep your word."
The woman gestured to the guards for them to follow her lead in cutting along the arm of each of Jarin's men. Once she was satisfied the restraints were removed from the other three as well. "Welcome to our sanctuary. My name is Luna, and your friends, no doubt, will be very pleased to see you."
BREAK-BREAK-BREAK
A/N: So this is the first really big point of divergence from the main continuity. In this instance, seeing as I started this well before we actually met Luna for the first time on the show, she is fully aware, or like 90% aware of all the goings on in the world, thanks to some surprises in the next chapter. So with that in mind, please drop a review!