Chapter 2: Accusations

"What did you say?" Commander Keen asked in shock. The humanoid gargoyles guided his Bean-with-Bacon Megarocket towards the golden ship Brightfire, but as he approached the vessel, he couldn't believe his bad luck. Him, the Grand Intellect? Maybe the real Grand Intellect, Mortimer McMire, was on the move. But all of a sudden, to find himself wanted by a species for crimes he didn't even commit, he was hoping that he could try and clear up this misunderstanding.

A docking port opened up, and the gargoyles took the Megarocket inside. Once it was set down, Keen opened the hatch and stepped out, finding two of the gargoyles towering over him. The two massive beasts suddenly had their abdominal muscles open like a ramp descending to the ground, and Keen could see feminine figures inside, removing their hands from what must have been control ports, and recalling a periscope viewfinder into the upper body. These... women... both had bright flesh-coloured skin, albeit with a slight tint of red. One had long, green hair flowing past her shoulders, the other yellow hair tied into a ponytail. "We should be careful; that was almost too easy a capture," the latter stated, concern evident in her hushed voice.

"Agreed," the former female declared. "To be safe, we should both escort this one to the Captain. Grand Intellect, this way, and for your sake don't try anything funny."

"You've got the wrong guy," Keen protested, as one of the women grabbed his hands and ushered him forward. "What are you going to do with me?"

"That is a matter for Captain Oneassa to decide. And no, we have extensive files on you. You were onboard the Shikadi Weapon of Galactic Destruction, and multiple Shikadi soldiers have identified you as their leader."

"But this is the first time I've encountered your people."

"Your falsehoods do you no credit among the people of Daria."

"I haven't even heard of that planet!"

"It isn't a good idea to lie to those that hold your life in their hands. You have even been caught leading Shikadi forces against us."

"We're here," the yellow-haired woman declared, and ushered Keen through another doorway into a bridge area. "Captain, the Grand Intellect is present."

"Excellent," a calm but curt voice spoke from behind a chair. "Throw him in the hold, but keep constant guard on him. I don't want any Shikadi surprises waiting for us when we jump."

The two women dragged Keen back down the corridor, their grip tighter than ever. The greenhead then spoke into a communicator; "This is Eleria of the Eighth Light Air Cluster. I want a scanning crew analysing the ship we captured."

"What made you decide to do that?!" Keen demanded

"Just a routine trap check. I want scanner results reported to me and the Captain before we jump."

"What makes you think the Megarocket has any traps?"

"We're here. Get in."

Keen was ushered through a doorway into a room filled with boxes. Once inside, he was made to sit down, with his escorts on either side of him. On the plus side, he still had his ComputerWrist, and they had released their grip on his hands, so at least he could pass the time with a few games of Paddle War.

"Scanning crew to Eleria of the Eighth Light Air Cluster," a voice sounded from her ear. "Scan is complete, and we have detected nothing unusual save for the actual design of the ship itself."

"How so, scanning crew?"

"The materials it was built from give it terrible armor. It seems like quite a ramshackle effort to us."

"And yet it is still capable of deep-space flight? Interesting."

"All ground forces are aboard," an announcement declared over loudspeaker. "All hands prepare for hyperspace jump. Repeat, all hands prepare for hyperspace jump."

Keen still engrossed in Paddle War, suddenly jerked forward in the next minute, stopped from flying across the room by the arms of his escorts. Once the initial shock started wearing off and allowed him to sink backwards again, he found his right arm gripped by Eleria. "What is this? Are you trying to send a remote signal?"

"It is just a game!" protested Keen

"A... game? You let yourself get captured so easily, are scheduled to face justice for your crimes against our people, and you are engrossed in unproductive amusement? Why do you indulge in such befuddling behaviour?"

"I need to find something to do. This waiting around is driving me nuts!"

"You needn't wait long; our hyperdrive is more than capable of rapid interstellar travel. We will arrive at the home world within minutes."

"But what exactly is going on between you people and the Grand Intellect?"

"Did entering hyperspace knock loose your memories? We discovered that a Shikadi weapon was deployed near Korath III, and we were only able to draw the fire of their guardian warships. Between their resistance and an energy buildup in the station, we were beginning to doubt whether we would be able to destroy the weapon before it detonated. Our one stroke of luck was that there was a saboteur that destroyed their systems from the inside."

"You mean the Omegamatic? I disabled it."

"Why would the Grand Intellect sabotage his own weaponry?"

"For the millionth time, you have got the wrong guy!"

Just then, Keen felt himself jerk forward again, and held in place by the two guards. "Well, you can tell it to the Adjudicator. We're here."