Chapter Three
That Damn Exlicer
Daniel couldn’t remember a time that his head throbbed so badly. It hurt worse than the time that Ramir, his assistant on an Egyptian dig, and he celebrated after they discovered some rare and unbroken pottery from 7000 BC. Just what the hell was that god-awful taste in his mouth? He wasn’t sure if it tasted like a cross between rotten eggs and moldy bread, but it was close.
From the feel of the silk sheet against his skin, Daniel surmised that he was as naked as a newborn babe, just what happened to my clothes, he thought as he pulled the silk sheet closer to his eyes? He hoped to blot out the sun that was streaming through the window. He realized the room was different from the room in his last conscious memory. Just where was he and how did he get here, in this bedroom he couldn’t quite figure out yet.
Suddenly he was aware of soft moaning coming from his left. It sounded a little like Sam. No it couldn’t be, not with him naked in bed. Just what did happen earlier? He slowly turned his head. His eyes began to focus on the person next to him, when a very shocked look began growing on his face as the thought, “Oh my god it is Sam and she’s naked too!” raced across his mind. He quickly tried to look in the opposite direction.
“Uh hiya, Sam, guess what,” Daniel started to say, but suddenly he was covering up his ears at the most blood curdling scream he had ever heard come from Sam that he could ever remember. It was making his head threatened to split in two.
“Oh my god what happened. Where are my clothes? Why are you in my bed?” Screamed Sam. She quickly grabbed her ears and moaned something about her head trying to kill her. Then she noticed a long cut on her left arm.
“Just what the hell happened to my arm?” She thrust out her arm for Daniel to see, not even caring that the sheet had dropped and was exposing here firm breasts.
“My left arm has the same cut and to answer your question I don’t know what did happen. The last I remember was some old hag forcing us to drink this bad cider.” Daniel, placed one hand on top of his head in a vain attempt to stop the pounding, he looked around for some of his clothing to put on.
“Yeah, I remember that too, and a lot of females standing around shouting. I don’t remember exactly what they were saying, but I remember the sounds.’ Sam added.
“Where are our clothes?” They said in unison, as they looked at each other and both realize that their clothes were nowhere to be seen.
“Why would someone go to all the trouble of taking our clothes? What do they expect us to do without them? We can’t stay in this room all the time. Daniel we have to get out of here and find our way back to where we left Jack and Teal’C.”
“I realize that, but our first priority is finding out where are clothes are and just where the hell we are and just how do we get out of here?” They search every inch of the bedroom, kitchen and finally the living room, without success. Their apartment was comfortable. It was in he classic Greek style, but with modern conveyances. It had a refrigerator that was built into the wall of the kitchen. Its door looked more like a painting of the outdoors in the springtime. It had running water and ceiling lights, electricity (they weren’t sure of the power source for they hadn’t seen a power plant anywhere), indoor plumbing, and central heating and cooling.
Daniel couldn’t remember a time that he had heard her so scared. He wanted to put his arms around her to comfort her when they heard footsteps outside the door. Hope rapidly spread across both of their faces as they opened the door.
Walking down the hallway was a young girl of eight or nine years. Her jet-black hair was piled high on her head with turquoise ribbons laced through out that matched her turquoise dress and gold laced sandals. Her almond colored eyes reflected maturity beyond her physical age.
“Excuse me,” Sam leaned out from behind the door as best she could with out letting the young girl see that all she had on was the sheet off of the bed. “Excuse me, could you find someone to help me find my clothes, they seemed to have disappeared.”
“You don’t need clothes for the first week after you bond with your chosen male.” The young girl replied.
“Bond, what do you mean bond?”
“You know, promise to always take care of and to stay true to the one male until he dies. And he promises to always stay true to you and take care of you and your children. I never heard of the bonding elixir making anyone forget everything before.” The young girl rolled her eyes toward the ceiling as she started to walk away.
“What, bonding elixir are you talking about honey, is it, or I mean is, was it that awful tasting stuff they made us drink?”
“Yeah that’s the stuff alright, it makes you want to mate with your male as soon as you lay eyes on him at the bonding ceremony. Is their any thing else you want to know? I gotta go, my mom and her mate are waiting for me.”
“Yes, who do I talk to about getting my clothes back, you see, I really need them, it’s awfully important that I get them as soon as possible.”
“As I told you, the grand council won’t give them back to you, right now. They want you to bond for a week with your mate. As soon as they are satisfied that you have mated enough, they will bring you your clothes.” With that she ran down the hall and out of sight.
“Come back. I said come back here you little brat!” Sam, nearly in tears collapsed against the doorframe. Closing her eyes and forgetting that Daniel was close by she added, “A whole week without clothes in the same room with Daniel, oh my god I think I went to hell and someone forgot to tell me.”
Daniel’s jaw nearly hit the floor as his nostrils flare, then grabbed Sam by the shoulders and exclaimed, “EXCUSE ME! Do you really think that I am enjoying this? I’m not ready for marriage. I’m the type of man that wants to get to know the girl, know every thing there is about her, to develop deep feelings for her before I ask her to marry me, not just have a casual one night stand.” His anger began to subside as his eyes locked on to her soft, pouty lips and quivering chin. Slowly his eyes slid down to her heaving breast and his breath began to quicken as he added, “-- Well, to tell the truth, I really don’t mind looking at your well defined legs, or the soft bend of your neck----what’s happening? I can’t seem to control my thoughts anymore-”
“Daniel, I hope that General Hammond doesn’t find out about this-----” With that last thought she opened her eyes and looked at Daniel. She let her sheet fall to the ground and went to Daniel wrapping her arms around his neck and pressed her lips to his. She felt his arms wrap around her waist and his lips soften and then part as her tongue sought out the inner reaches of his mouth. Her last coherent thought was that it must be that damn elixir.
* * * * * * * *
Later that evening, the doctor arrived at the council chambers. “Sorry it took me so long to get back to you. It took longer than I had planned. I had to make a small incision on their arms to administer the elixir. It was too thick to use a hypospray. Then they almost woke up while I was there. Now only time will tell how it turns out.”
It was four days later; the doctor proudly announced to the queen, that Daniel was indeed pregnant. She should be summoned to their quarters in the next couple of weeks to examine Samantha’s sick mate. Then it will be only a matter of a couple of weeks after that until we are able to determine the sex of the child.
“Good work doctor. Now we just have to come up with a few little tricks to keep them here while we take their plan apart.”
The sound of birds chirping outside the bedroom window caused Sam to open her eyes. As she looked about the room, she noticed that clothing similar to what the citizens here wore was placed on the chair by the door. Had it been a week already since she and Daniel were mistakenly married? It didn’t seem like it had been that long.
With that she lovingly looked over at Daniel. She was about to wake him, when she began to think about how cute he looked just lying there asleep. What great sex they had. Man if every woman knew just how great in sex he was, they would be fighting tooth and nail just to try him out. He is every woman’s fantasy, one that she hoped to keep to herself. Why hadn’t she noticed before, how peaceful, how secure she felt with him next to her. How fulfilled she felt, but she wondered if he felt the same way about her? She decided to push that thought away for now. She dragged her fingers lightly over his forehead and gently whispered his name into his ear. He stirred slightly, not wanting to fully wakeup. It felt so good just laying there, getting those last few seconds of sleep in before he’s forced to get out of bed for real.
“Daniel, their here, our clothes, well, sort of our clothes are here.” Sam’s eyes danced with excitement as she scrambled out of bed to look at the clothing lying across a chair at the end of their bed.
“They are?” he said as he opened his eyes and stretched.
“I guess we past the time limit, on solitude.” Sam said as she helped Daniel to rise and shine the best that he could at that moment.
“Well don’t we just look dandy,” Daniel looked in the mirror at himself and Sam and shook his head. He had to admit Sam did look good in the off the shoulder number she had on. That aquamarine dress made her look radiant. The gold cord belt made her eyes shine and matched the golden color of her hair.
He on the other hand, with that short tunic showing his knobby knees and hairy legs, just looked ridiculous. Oh well, he sighed, when in Rome do as the Romans do I guess. Well we certainly will blend in with inhabitants, he thought as he shook his head at their reflections.
* * * * * * * *
A few moments later after they had dressed and their minds had a chance to fully clear the cobwebs out, Daniel said, “I want to look around and see what I can find out about this culture, this planet and most importantly, just where is Jack and Teal’C? We can’t totally forget about them.”
“You’re right, we do need to find out what happened to them.” She realized that she hadn’t given them a thought since they first arrived. That wasn’t like her; she had better focus more on their mission.
“Shall we make our first public appearance since our wedding?” Sam reached for the door and Daniel quickly followed.
“By all means let’s get this over with.” Daniel briefly closed is eyes and shook his head. This planet just had to be inhabited by Greek Amazons; it just had to be his luck. He shook his head and followed Sam down the corridor.
They had only gone a few feet when a brunette and her mate met up with them.
“Hello, I‘m Angelina and this is my mate Altecor. You must be Samantha, the new arrival that I’ve heard so much about. I’m on my way to the council meeting, would you like to join me.”
“Oh, I don’t know if I should, it being our first time here and all.” Sam stammered not knowing what she should do, not wanting to be interrupted in their quest to find their comrades.
“Nonsense, nearly everyone will be there. You can meet them and learn about our city and we can learn about you and answer any question that you might have. If you’re worried about your mate finding his way around, he’ll be fine.”
Turning she indicated her one mate and said, “Altecor will show your mate where the shops are to shop for your food and other supplies. We’ll loan you some credits until you are issued some from the treasury. Altecor will have him back at your living quarters before you get back, won’t you Altecor?” He stood almost the same height as Daniel. He looked as if life had been harsh on him. His brown hair was coarse and his pallor was pale almost sickly. He had a paunch that was slightly noticeable.
“Yes, my lady,” he cringed at her harsh glare. Sam and Daniel did not miss the harshness of her tone. Sam gave Daniel a please be careful look, that she hoped he understood.
Angelica took Sam by the arm and walked away. Altecor grabbed Daniel’s arm and pulled him in the opposite direction out into the bright sunlight and across the courtyard.
“Come on we haven’t much time, the meeting only last about three hours.”
“Three hours that’s plenty of time to shop and look around before they finish.” Daniel said matter of factly.
“No you don’t understand. I don’t know how you do it in your sector, but here, you get your shopping done, clean your living quarters, get the cooking done, the laundry and take care of the children, before the mistress gets home. If not, you’re in for a lot of trouble.”
Perplexed by what Altecor had just said, Daniel had to ask, “ Trouble, just what kind of trouble could you get into?”
“You can be publicly whipped, your bonding broken and be sent to the concubine quarters or even banished to the forest to fend for yourself, while your children are kept by the mistress and you will never see them again.”
Altecor had the most horrified look that Daniel had ever seen. It finally was beginning to sink in just how bad the men had it here.
“The women can actually do that to the men?” It reminded Daniel of some of the third world countries backward thinking against women back on good OLE earth.
“If you are lucky that is all they will do to you.” The fear in Altecor voice made Daniel shutter. Just what had they gotten themselves into this time he thought.
* * * * * * * *
Sam sat in the chair next to Angelica. Boy they sure do like luxury, she thought as she surveyed the room. There were tapestries on the walls depicting hunting parties; raids on villages, home life, and a small tapestry with what looked like a cross between a deer and a mountain lion. There were animal skins on the floor and on the heavy wooden table in front of the grand council. The chairs had fur skins covering them. There was a large fireplace to the right of the council table. Directly behind the council members were windows that covered most of the wall. The drapes that partially covered the windows were of a rich burgundy color. There were unlit torches every five feet on the walls.
“Samantha, please answer the question, where are you from and why are you in our territory?”
Sam quickly came to attention at the sound of her name being called. “I’m sorry, I was just admiring the beauty of the tapestries.”
“Thank you, my mate did them for the council chambers a few years ago. Now back to the questions, where are you from and why have you trespassed on our territory?”
Le’Ana’s tone unnerved Sam, and she held her breath while trying to give a good bluff to stall them until help could arrive.
“My mate and I mean you no harm. We are from the north territory, traveling to the south. We are just exploring, trying to find someplace to call our own, to raise a family. It was unintentional that we happened upon your territory.” Sam hoped she sounded sincere.
“No harm you say. Then what are these primitive weapons that you have in these carriers, my warriors found on you. What is their purpose?”
“They as you say are primitive. Their purpose was for protection from the wild animals that might try to attack my mate and myself, and to help capture the animals to feed us. Surely, my old weapons would never pose a threat to you or your warriors.”
“We shall debate on your answers and return with our decision in a few moments.” With that the council members filed out into the smaller room to the left.
“Don’t worry, it will be fine. You will see. They will allow you to stay as long as you need to. Le’Ana, she always tries to act tough, but she’s not as tough as she likes to make herself. I should know I have been to enough of these meetings.” Angelica smiled and placed a reassuring hand on Sam’s shoulder.
* * * * * * * *
They finished their shopping and hurried back to their living quarters. After Daniel put the purchases away and straightened up some, he figured that he would seek out the quarters that Altecor shared. Ten minutes later he found it.
Altecor was even more stressed out then when Daniel had left him. Feeling sorry for him, Daniel talked him into letting him help clean up the quarters and helped by keeping the children occupied while Altecor fixed the midday meal.
Altecor kept reminding Daniel that the time for the ladies of the house to return was fast approaching and that maybe he should hurry home and make his mates’ midday meal before she arrives. Daniel took his leave after Altecor generously thanked him for his help.
* * * * * * * *
“I was able to buy us some time to look for Jack and Teal’C.” She said as they ate the midday meal that Daniel had quickly prepared.
“How did you convince them that we meant no harm to anyone?”
“I told them that we were from the north territory and were on our way south to look for a nice place to call home. They bought it but for some reason insist that we stay in the fortress for now. They say it’s too dangerous to go out on our own at the moment. But they will allow us to leave in a few days. In the mean time they have placed me on the hunting party teams to earn our keep. I’ll earn a few credits each time. If I go on extra hunting parties, they will pay extra. The parties are out for a couple of hours each time, I’m told.” Sam sampled more of the food Daniel had prepared. She stopped suddenly and her eyes widen in surprise as she said to him,“This food is really good Daniel, I didn’t know you could cook like this.”
“Thanks, it’s just a little survival skill I picked up over the years.” He smiled.
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