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TITLE: Kindred - Part 4
SUMMARY: One of John's first memories of the Pegasus galaxy was a culling - the culling that had changed so many things for John, for the expedition, for the Pegasus galaxy. Now it was happening again.
CATEGORY: team, drama, action-adventure
RATING: PG-13
DISCLAIMER: Nothing to do with Stargate Atlantis belongs to me, I'm just borrowing them for the moment.
NOTES: When I was looking through this chapter for posting, it occurred to me that this is really the last 'chapter' of the story, and part 5 is really just an epilogue or story closure. Nearly there!
Kindred - Part 4
One of John's first memories of the Pegasus galaxy was a culling - the culling that had changed so many things for John, for the expedition, for the Pegasus galaxy.
This culling was nothing like that first time.
"It's so organised!" John heard Rodney exclaiming as his team ran through the camp looking for anyone who'd been left behind.
"They have planned for this since they heard of the raids on other planets," Teyla said as she came down a branch path towards them. "There are caves - including the one where the devices are kept." Her gaze lifted to the sky. "We should follow them."
"Might be a good idea to take cover," said Ronon.
"Take Rodney and head for the caves," John said to Teyla. "Ronon and I are going for the 'jumper."
"Wait! Why's he going to the 'jumper?" Rodney swung around from the tent he'd been looking into. "What if you encounter technical difficulties?"
John pushed Rodney in the direction of Teyla. "You won't make it back to the 'jumper in time," he said forcefully. "Ronon and I can do it. You can't."
"Colonel!" She caught Rodney's arm but was still turned towards him. "You cannot fight back."
Her words stopped him short. "Why not?"
The concern in her expression cut him to the bone. "Because to do so would let the Wraith know that there is more here than just people to be culled," she said. "If they believe that there are only Noyians, then they will not come back."
"They'll just come back to cull them again."
Ronon's expression had turned grim. "Resistance is squashed."
"Look, it's the only means we have of fighting back--"
"Okay, how about we argue somewhere under cover?" Rodney yelled, pointing at the sky where the silvery darts had just begun to appear. "I mean, unless you want to be taken by the Wraith--"
He broke off at that exact moment because Teyla's head tilted up to look at the sky, her eyes taking on the unfocused look that meant the Wraith were very near. Distantly, he heard the sound of the dart engines, whining through the air with a noise like tearing silk.
"Move," he ordered Rodney as he grabbed Teyla's arm. "Come on." He knew without looking around that Ronon was a step behind him - the man had good survival instincts and wasn't in a hurry to be recaptured by the Wraith.
She stumbled, temporarily dragging on John's arm, then regained her footing and shook him off. John intercepted the glance she shot him. After his comments of before, he wasn't forgiven, not by a long shot.
The team ran through the deserted camp, half an eye on the sky and the darts arrowing in.
"Any idea how many?" John asked her.
"Two," she said. "They are close."
He didn't need to be told that - he already knew it. The screaming engines grew louder and louder in his ears as they passed empty tents, heading down towards the caves where Lian had kept his treasures.
"On us!" Ronon bellowed from behind. John felt himself grabbed by the flak vest and half-dragged aside by the Satedan, almost losing his footing in the process. He stumbled into someone's set of pots and pans, the clatter barely heard over the all-encompassing whine of the Wraith dart. One foot trod down on the edge of a pot and he hissed as he turned his ankle, but managed the next step.
The shimmering white veil swept past John, missing him by mere inches. Ronon's grip loosened and he grabbed hold of one of the tent-poles to regain his balance and moved back out into the main thoroughfare, looking for the other two. "Rodney? Teyla?"
He didn't realise he'd been holding his breath until Rodney's grumpy protest came from the wreckage of a collapsed tent across the way. "She shoved me!"
Teyla rolled over and accepted John's hand up, as did Rodney.
"Saved your life," Ronon grunted from behind them. "And they're coming back."
There wasn't going to be any reprieve for them - not until they got to the caves.
At least four hundred yards, John thought to himself. Possibly more. And that was weaving their way through the tents. He prodded Rodney on. "You can dust yourself off later."
During one of the passes, Teyla and Rodney took a branch-off, splitting away from the main path. John watched them go and trusted to Teyla's instincts. She'd get herself and Rodney out of danger; he could rely on that at least.
Running through the camp was a nightmare, dodging and ducking, trying to keep an eye on the darts overhead, tripping over tent lines and bruising themselves on tent-pegs in the process, and herding along those who'd been too slow to get moving when the alarm was given.
They picked up three teens, a couple who'd been out foraging when the Wraith came and were only alerted by the sound of the darts, two kids who'd been playing up on the hill, and an older man who limped along, his joints aching but otherwise hale.
As he jogged alongside the older man and the couple, with Ronon keeping an eye on the darts overhead, John wondered where Lian was. There'd been no sign of the Noyian leader since the attack began, and John wouldn't have put it past the man to be hiding away while the remnants of his people were left behind.
So he didn't think much of the guy. He hadn't been given much reason.
"Sheppard! They're lining up!"
John risked a glance to the right and behind of him and swore.
It looked like the Wraith pilots were getting sneaky. Instead of flying one at a time, there were two flying side-by-side, doubling their sweep range and making it more difficult for the humans to dodge.
"Split," he yelled at Ronon. "Double their targets."
Ronon nodded, and began hustling the couple away, off one of the right-branching tracks.
"You should go ahead," the older man said calmly. "Leave me here."
"Not going to happen," said John, grimly pressing on and looking for a leftwards branch-off. "Nobody gets left behind."
The older man pushed him aside, "Son, I've lived my life!"
"Oh, I'm pretty sure you've got a few years yet to go--" The darts were nearly on them. "Come on!"
It was going to be close. Really close. Too close...
John saw the white curtain of the dematerialiser out of the corner of his eye, knew that they weren't far out enough to play chicken - not successfully.
He had a moment to think of Atlantis, of his team - Rodney, Ronon, Teyla...
Then the guy he was escorting spun around, digging his hands into John's jacket. Before John could voice anything more than a momentary surprise, the man swung him around and out of the path of the beam, using momentum to fling him out of the way.
A curtain of light flashed by, mere inches from John as he tumbled backwards among crates of something, his sight full of the dark afterimage of the man superimposed on the brilliant white of the dematerialiser beam. He rolled to his feet, grabbing hold of a tent line for balance, but the darts were gone, and so was the Noyian.
In the sky above, the darts turned, preparing to come back.
There was a moment when he considered giving it up. Stepping into the beam and taking his chances with the Wraith...
"Colonel!"
Teyla stood a few yards away at the intersection of paths. Irritation heated John's skin as he snapped, "I told you to go on with Rodney!"
"Rodney is safe," she said coolly as he picked his way out of the jumble of household goods into which he'd fallen. "We caught up with other Noyians and he is following them to their hideout." She looked beyond him. "Where is Ronon?"
"We split," he said, taking her arm and encouraging her to move with a small push. "The darts are flying side by side - they went one way, we went another."
She headed off between the maze of tents while John kept a wary eye on the darts coming back for them. "I should have gone for the 'jumper when they first arrived."
"They would only send more," Teyla said briskly. "These people can run from two darts. They cannot run from twenty, or a hundred. Do you remember the culling on Orin's world?"
John did. It wasn't one of his better memories, having to sit still and listen to people screaming, running, dying... Only the knowledge that Atlantis needed the information on the Wraith numbers had kept him still - for all that Teyla had accused him of not understanding family.
His need to protect his own family had kept him from fighting back then.
Her need to protect these people - similar to hers - kept him from fighting back now.
They ran through the camp, Teyla keeping an eye where they were going, John keeping an eye on the sky. At least one of the darts had gone, only one screamed overhead, and that one was mostly avoidable.
Mostly.
He caught his foot on a tent peg as they sidestepped another pass by the dart, and tumbled against the heavy canvas of one of the tents, sagging on the unsupported material. They were heavy enough to tip the tent a little, but it had been firmly poled and pegged and they found themselves hanging on a swinging expanse of cloth, unable to get a firm grip on anything to give them leverage with which to stand up.
Teyla's noise of protest was muffled in the hair just behind his ear, but John was only too aware of the warmth of her body through the material of her BDUs and his. He tried to ignore the feel of her mouth in his hair, her body under his as he flailed around, seeking something solid beneath the tent to help him up. Their proximity was making it har-- difficult.
It's just a reaction to near-death experiences, he told himself as he gave up and slid down until he was close enough to the ground that his centre of gravity allowed him to regain his balance. The fact that he'd had to work his way down her body didn't help matters, but he stood and grabbed her arm to pull her up, careful not to look her in the eye.
"Thank you," she said, and John told himself the breathlessness in her voice was entirely due to the fact that they'd been running. Still, he didn't let go of her and she let him pull her along, her hand remaining in his as they reached the edge of the tents and ran across the field, heading for the safety of the caves
John's neck crawled as they ran across the grassy stubble of the field. His instincts told him that out in the open was the worst place to be with an enemy closing in. Experience reminded him that out in the open was the best place to face the darts, with more room to get out of the way of the sweeping dematerialisers.
Either way, out in the open was the only way they'd make it to the relative safety that the caves might provide.
And he could have gone for the 'jumper, even if he didn't fight back.
He hoped to God that Rodney and Ronon had made it to safety; there wasn't time to check on them, even to radio. He had to trust to their survival instincts.
"Ready to run?"
Her nod was brisk and they ran for it, sprinting across the wide green sward, only too aware that another dart was arrowing in to pick them up if it could. Teyla swiftly outpaced John; for a woman of her stature, she could sure run. John kept up as best he could, but the Wraith were coming back...
"Teyla!"
She'd slowed down so John was alongside her; and even as he grabbed her arm, she lunged into him, pushing them both down to the ground and out of the way of the beam. They rolled over, the breath whooshing from their lungs as they hit the ground. On the second roll, as his limbs made contact with the ground, John climbed fluidly to his feet, using his weight as a counterbalance to haul her up with him. It was as neat as if they'd practised it.
Then he saw her hand reaching for her sidearm, and began to turn, reaching for his own P-90.
Her first shots rang out as John got his weapon into position. His first spatter of fire caught the first two Wraith in the chest, not killing them, but slowing them - and giving Teyla enough time to get her own weapon into place.
Four Wraith stood there, one with a face, the other three without. Two were injured, but another had a stunner up and pointed at them.
John spun wide of the blast, moving away from Teyla, forcing the Wraith to follow two targets. Vaguely, he was aware of the dart coming back and clicked his radio on. "Rodney?"
"Sheppard? Where are you? Look, it's way too--"
John fired his gun one-handed, not really caring if he wasted ammo at this point. He had at least one spare clip, but more Wraith were being beamed down even as he spoke. "Rodney, they're beaming Wraith down. We've got six...eight against Teyla and me. Get us some backup!"
"Backup? From where? Wait! Ronon's on his way. And Lian."
"You can show them how to use the stunners," Teyla's voice came over the radio. It sounded odd; John could hear her from where she was moving, several yards away, and through the radio.
"What she said, Rodney. And hurry up!" They were outnumbered, there was no cover, and it was getting tiring to dodge the blasts. The Wraith were beginning to spread out, too, making it more difficult to hit them. Things weren't looking good.
The air was filled with noise: the Wraith dart screaming overhead, the whomp of the stunners, the chatter of bullet-fire; it was hardly surprising that John didn't hear Ronon approaching until the first gunshot.
They'd tried to take Ronon's guns apart, to find out what made them work. The energy source was apparently something close to a black box, and Ronon refused to let the scientists take it apart. Rodney had tried to argue Ronon down - as much as he could argue with someone who just waited until he ran out of breath and then said, "No."
Whatever made it work, however it managed to produce the charge it did, it was damned effective against the Wraith. One collapsed completely, another dropped its stunner but was advancing towards them.
And the dart screamed overhead, the white wave washing over them.
John felt the glow touch him, felt his skin prickle, and realised this was the first time he'd ever been caught up in a dematerialiser...
Then the light faded and the blow caught him in the small of the back.
The dart had been rematerialising Wraith among them, not dematerialising John and his team.
He stumbled, turned, and re-angled his P-90 up to take the Wraith in the chest cavity. Beyond the white, fanged figure Ronon was fighting with both fist and weapon, and Teyla had moved in to take on the last of their initial opponents, using her sidearm in much the same way as she would one of her staves.
Past Ronon, on the ledge of the path up to the caves, John could see others fighting; Lian, the Noyian smith with biceps like Arnie, a middle-aged woman who was wielding a stunner clumsily in the space between the cliff face and the edge of the path.
There wasn't much space.
Even as John reached for his sidearm - the P90 would be of no use in close quarters except as a club - the smith wrestled one of the Wraith off the ledge, but unbalanced himself in the process and tried to clutch for something - anything - as he fell.
His fingers caught in the long hair of the Wraith fighting Ronon, jerking both Wraith and man out of their close-quarters fight. Wraith and Noyian fell like a stone towards the water of the river below; Ronon teetered at the edge, trying to regain his balance.
John ran forward, hooking his fingers into the Satedan's jacket and yanking him back, then peered out into the river. He didn't give the man much hope for survival in the chilly runoff, but they'd take the 'jumper out to look for him when they managed to hold off the Wraith.
Further along the slate path, Lian was fighting a Wraith in close quarters, using a stunner as his staff. If John hadn't believed that Lian was anything like Teyla, he couldn't deny the evidence of his eyes - the man had the same uncanny instincts as Teyla when it came to fighting. Every blow from the Wraith, every swipe, every thrust was matched and met as Lian battled against it, the handsome face fierce with concentration.
"There are more in the cave," Ronon said as he pulled a knife and flung it. The Wraith paused in its attack, trying to claw the hilt from between his shoulder blades. Lian used the opportunity to slam the end of the stunner into the creature's gut, throwing it off the ledge.
Beyond him, the woman wasn't quite so skilled. Hadn't been so skilled. Her face was blank and hollow as the Wraith drained life force from her. John lifted his gun as Ronon pulled a second knife and Lian raised the stunner.
The Wraith probably never knew what hit it.
Lian knelt by the woman as she collapsed, shaking her. "Ginean!"
Ronon slipped past Lian and the woman, up to the cave. A touch at John's shoulder showed Teyla, pushing him after their team-mate. "Some have entered the cave," she said. "Go. I will help bring her in."
He ran.
Inside the cave, there were shouts and cries, whimpers that echoed oddly through the caverns of the cave - and the sound of bullets being fired. Rodney was somewhere in there, defending himself - and possibly others. Ronon was already fighting a Wraith, barely holding his own. Further in the shadows, one of the Noyians struggled against the Wraith - nothing more than a dark blur behind the armoured back of the creature.
John pulled his sidearm and looked for an opportunity to fire.
His best chance was to get a shot in while the Wraith's back was turned - distraction, the way Ronon had helped Lian despatch the Wraith back on the ledge.
There were no chances.
As if the creature was aware of his thoughts, it kept Ronon between John and itself, leaving no opportunity for him to fire. Its compatriot further in was more accommodating, and John shifted along the edge of the cave, aimed, and fired. Four bullets found their mark in its back, piercing its leather like armour so it arched in pain and protest. It collapsed, letting go of its victim - a woman whose pale, adult face was an ugly shade of grey - and he started across the cave towards her.
Ronon made a grunting noise as the Wraith landed a blow in his belly, then another on his head. As he doubled over, the creature laid its hand on his throat, the garish mouth spreading in pleased profile as it began to drain Ronon's life-force.
John fired, almost blindly, saw the Wraith jerk back, and his finger tightened on the trigger again--
The stunner blast came out of the shadows, slamming into him with brutal force. It knocked him down, butting his head against the floor. His vision jolted, bright then dark, and when it stabilised, the pale face staring malevolently down at him was no comfort at all.
His gun was somewhere on the sandy floor, and the punch he swung at the Wraith was blocked - swatted, like an errant fly.
The slit-palmed hand reached out, almost lazily towards his throat, and John swivelled his legs, trying to kick the hungry hand away.
A volley of bullets took the Wraith in the skull, puncturing hard bone and tearing out brain matter. John flinched back, pressing his shoulder blades even further into the rock-and-sand of the cave bottom. The creature began to collapse, the gore-spattered face falling towards John in eerie slow-mo. Instinctively panicking, he kicked out at the creature, heaving his body away from the grisly sight.
Another four shots rang out, then a strong grip on his jacket helped him away from the Wraith, and John looked down into Teyla's anxious face. "It did not touch you?"
He shook his head. "Didn't get that close. Thanks."
She smiled at briefly him, but her gaze was already turning away. "You are welcome." He followed her as she stepped beyond him, past Ronon who was on his knees, gasping, but apparently none the worse for the Wraith's attack on him, to where Lian was propping a woman upright, his fingers pushing her hair back from her face.
John stifled the automatic anger he felt at her attendance on the Noyian and went to Ronon instead, crouching down to lay a hand on the other man's shoulder. "You gonna be okay?"
Dark eyes glanced up, "Yes." Ronon took a deep breath and rubbed at his chest where the throat of his shirt lay open. Absently, John remembered that Ronon was immune to the Wraith. "McKay was shooting something."
John clicked his radio, "Rodney?"
"We're all fine here. Well, a bit squashed in, but we're alive." There was a grunting noise and Rodney's voice grew faint. "It's a device - no you may not-- Because I say you can't! Sheppard?" Rodney was speaking directly into the radio again.
"Still here."
"Teyla and Ronon?"
Ronon was already climbing to his feet, reaching for his gun and headed back to the entrance to the cave. Teyla glanced back at John, her face oddly shadowed in the dimness of the cave. "They're fine."
"Are there more coming?"
If he concentrated past the murmuring echoes of the cave, he could still hear the darts screaming by. And in that moment, Ronon lifted his gun and began firing again.
John followed. "That's an affirmative."
"'Yes' would have done," Rodney's grumble was just audible before the radio went silent. John was concerned for a second; then the echoes further in the cave took on the cadence and tone of an irritated astrophysicist explaining something to people he considered of inferior intellect. Hard-pressed to keep the smile off his face, John concentrated on stopping any more Wraith from reaching the cave.
Between him and Ronon, they stopped the next party dead. It took more ammo than John liked - the Wraith just refused to lie down and die properly - and then another party of Wraith was beamed down.
John ducked back behind the ledge to reload, frowning. "How many darts did they bring?" So far, they'd shot down at least a dozen Wraith - far more than would be expected in your standard hunting party.
Usually all it took was two or three to cow a settlement - why so many this time?
"At least three," Ronon grunted. "Probably more."
"Did they get anyone?"
"Some. Older people. They stayed behind to draw the Wraith away." Ronon sounded revolted by the idea, but respectful.
John winced. "Yeah, I...saw." Absently, he resolved to find out the name of the older man - if he had to question every Noyian to get it.
With his P-90 reloaded, John went back to picking off the Wraith. At least the Wraith couldn't beam into the cave, even if they could aim their stunners at the points where John and Ronon were leaning around the edge of the cave.
Then a well-timed blast spun John around, shoving him back from the shoulder. He got his finger off the trigger before the arc of his aim got to Ronon, but it was close.
"Teyla!" Ronon didn't even glance at her as John eased himself over to the wall.
She knelt beside him. "Are you okay?"
He was massaging his shoulder, "Numb," he said simply. "Do they need help behind?"
"Rodney is giving them a lesson in the Wraith stunners," she said as she brought up her weapon, staying just out of sight of the opening. She ducked around and blasted off a few rounds with her typical precision; Teyla made her shots count. She leaned back behind the sheltering rock again. "They are not fast learners."
"He's not a very good teacher," John noted, climbing to his feet and wincing as a dozen small aches made themselves known to him, from the ankle he'd earlier twisted to the pins-and-needles of his numb shoulder. "Hold here and radio me if there's a problem."
The dead Wraith on the floor matched their counterparts on the wall, and from the footprints dragging across the floor it looked like Lian had helped the woman back to the caves where the Noyians were hiding.
Tunnels twisted this way and that, massed voices echoing down the rough shafts with the slightly formal speech of the Noyians. And one very distinctive, very aggravated Canadian accent coming through loud and clear. John followed that path with something like a smile and something like a wince.
"Don't hold it like a spear! It's a stunner! You want it pointed higher!"
A loose semicircle of Noyians closed around Rodney, who was scowling at one man. He'd forgotten just how bad a teacher Rodney was. A lack of patience with your students was the first way to persuade them that they'd never want to learn what you were teaching; either that, or they'd never want to learn it from you.
"Rodney," John said with a nod at the Noyians. "I see you're being your usual tactful self."
The scientist looked up at him with a slight frown across his features. "What are you doing here?"
Rodney's bluntness didn't nettle him; after eighteen months, John was used to the other man's complete lack of tact. "And it's good to see you, too," he replied.
"Shouldn't you be helping Teyla and Ronon?"
The Noyians ranged from the adolescent to nearly John's age. "Got hit in the shoulder," he said, rolling the injured joint. "Figured I'd come and see how the troops were coming along." He flashed a brief grin at the assembled people.
"They're dreadful," Rodney said without shame or hesitation, looking sourly along the line of Noyians who looked either hurt or exasperated.
One of the adolescent boys burst out, "If he would teach us how to use these weapons instead of harping about how we are not of the standard--"
"I do not harp!"
John reached out to take the stunner from the nearest person - a young woman whose polite and careful gaze reminded him of Teyla the first time they'd met. With a faint frown, he wondered where Umaya was. He'd have expected she'd be somewhere among the ones trying to fight back. "Hold it under your arm, like this," he demonstrated, wincing as his shoulder protested. The feeling was definitely returning. "Then it's got somewhere to go when the recoil happens."
At the blank looks he got when he mentioned recoil, John shook his head. "Never mind. Stay behind the rock ledge - there's no point in getting a shot off if they hit you in the process. And watch where you're pointing that thing," he added, indicating one of the young women who was aiming her weapon at him. "Friendly fire isn't. And if Ronon or Teyla tell you to do something - don't hesitate, it might save your life."
"Won't be necessary," said Ronon.
John turned to where his friend stood at the entrance of this set of tunnels. "They've gone?"
Ronon shrugged, "Apparently." There were sighs of relief from the assembled group. Apparently they'd been willing to fight the Wraith, they just didn't much want to. John couldn't blame them - wasn't that what he was doing in Pegasus? Still, Ronon looked rather grim, and he couldn't help asking, "Teyla?"
"Keeping an eye out."
"Will they be back?" The question burst from the young man who'd objected to Rodney's comment.
John, Ronon and Rodney exchanged looks.
"Well, sooner or later they'll be back," Rodney said after a moment. "Now that they know you're here."
From the fearful looks among the Noyians, Rodney's pronouncement wasn't good news. "But for the moment," John said, "You're safe."
"And when they come back?"
"You'll deal with that when you have to," John told them as Ronon turned away to check on Teyla.
"That time may come sooner than later," said Lian from one of the side passages. His voice grated slightly, harsh with an anger that flared as he looked at John. "We will hold council when we return to the camp. In the meantime," he looked directly at John, "There is someone who wishes to see you."
--
At first he didn't recognise the woman leaning back against the rough rock of one of the caves, her face in shadow, furs wrapped around her shoulders.
Then she raised her head, and the dark eyes speared through him.
"Am I old enough now?"
John hoped he managed to keep the shock he felt off his features as he looked at the expression on the now-mature face; the bitter mockery that tinged Umaya's features, undisguised. As it was, he felt cold, just looking at her.
He'd shot the Wraith in the back four times and only glimpsed a woman's face by the flickering light of the torches set. There'd been no connection between the girl who'd confronted him and the pale, grey-faced woman who gasped for air, life, and the youth that was lost her.
No-one quite knew what it was the Wraith took from humans. Life, certainly, but exactly what part of 'life' wasn't known. Carson said it was a mystery as life itself was a mystery, and then confessed that he didn't know. The only thing they knew for sure was that it aged a person physically. The Wraith child Ellia had drained years from her adopted father, until his own father didn't recognise him. Colonel Everett had aged decades in the span of hours, while Colonel Sumner had gone from forty to ninety in the blink of John's eye, drained by the gatekeeper before John gave him mercy.
Now Umaya looked up at John with the face of a woman in her mid-thirties, but the angry, hurt eyes of a child. She might look of an age with him now, but John could see the fifteen year-old staring out of the woman's face.
"Umaya--"
"It was never just my age, was it?" She said, her eyes never leaving his face. John felt stripped bare by the ferocity of her gaze.
"No," he said. "I said it wasn't."
Now she dropped her eyes, the flush touching her cheeks. For a moment, it gave her the youth she'd lost. "And I did not believe you."
She hadn't wanted to believe him.
"What'll happen?" John wasn't sure he wanted to know what the Noyians would do with Umaya - looking older than Lian, but half his age. He turned to Lian who still stood at the door, his expression hard. "What'll happen to her?"
The Noyian leader shrugged. "She will learn to live with what has been done to her." If Lian didn't seem to have any pity for Umaya, at least he wasn't contemptuous or horrified. "As we will learn to live with the Wraith dogging our heels." He glanced past John to Umaya, and stalked away.
John turned back to the once-girl, but she was staring at her hands as though seeing them for the first time. "We have people who can counsel you about this," he said. "If you want to talk to someone about this--"
"And what could be done other than talk?" The dark eyes fixed him, their anguish evident, even in the darkness of the cave.
"At least you're alive." It was trite, but she managed something like a smile.
"Yes." And she fixed her gaze on her hands again.
John left her sitting in the room. Not alone at least, a gaggle of women of varying ages entered the cave room as he left, but thoughtful.
He went back through the caves, absently remembering the turns he'd taken, looking for either his team or Lian. They'd have to call back to Atlantis, let them know what happened. Offer the Noyians assistance in moving if they wanted to move, or help if they wanted to rebuild. There was still the technology to be bargained - although their help in defending the Noyians might earn them some goodwill, at least among people who weren't Khenar Lian - and why had he ever thought that leadership was a cool thing?
John wondered if it was too late to ask to be assigned to another posting.
"John! John-John-John-John!" Anneka bounced up beside him, co-opting his hand. "Did you see the Wraith? Were you out there fighting? Milla said you were probably somewhere in the caves, but Umaya said you'd be fighting them and she went to help! I wanted to help, but Milla wouldn't let me go. And we ran and were scared but they've gone away now, haven't they?"
Assaulted by the verbal flood, John half-smiled. "Yeah, they're gone. Shouldn't you be with Milla?"
The little girl shook her head. "Milla's talking with Makhel," she said. "Again."
And this after she'd tried to seduce John earlier today. "Fast worker," John muttered, more to himself than the kid. "Okay," he said at normal volume. "I'm looking for my friends and Lian because we need to talk about what happened here. But this is big-people stuff, so I think you should go and find one of your friends."
Shoulders sagged and the little face scrunched up in disgust. "But I want to go with you!"
"Anneka." The tone of voice had worked on him when he was a kid, he didn't see why it wouldn't work on her.
She scowled at him, huffed and stomped away.
John sighed. Older kids - Jinto's age - he could manage; Anneka was old enough to have a bad case of hero-worship, but young enough to be stubborn. And he had a feeling the conversation that was about to take place shouldn't be witnessed by the kids.
There were raised voices ahead, carrying through the weirdly-shaped tunnels. One of them was Rodney's, high with disbelief, while Ronon's words were short and sharp, and Teyla's smoother tones and uneven cadences resonated calmly through the thread of discussion.
John pushed past the people who gathered warily at the edge of the cavern, listening to the argument but not participating in it.
"You can't go back on your word like that!" Rodney expostulated.
"I can and I will," Lian said, his eyes nearly black as John sauntered up.
"Something going on here?"
He knew what the problem was even before Rodney opened his mouth. "He's not going to trade the devices with us anymore!"
John took a deep breath and tried to remember that they had an audience. Now was not the time to get angry. Forceful, perhaps, but not angry.
Lian was speaking. "I have had time to think, and the things of the Ancestors were brought here for a purpose. To disturb them is folly."
"Folly?" Rodney spluttered. "It's folly to have all this stuff collected and never use it! This place is a mausoleum!"
Lian's expression didn't change, although he arched a brow at the description.
"A place where the dead are interred," Teyla said from the side. Her voice was more moderate, and the man actually listened to what she was saying, instead of dismissing it outright. "Lian, the things of the Ancestors were not meant to be kept stored and unused. That is not why the Ancestors created them. Let them be used for their original purpose."
"You do not know their original purpose." Okay, so Lian was listening, he just didn't heed what she was saying.
"Then give them the chance to find it out," Ronon said, making it sound like something obvious.
Blue eyes rested on Ronon, narrow and calculating. "Them?" Lian asked softly. "You work with them, live with them, but you do not identify with them."
Ronon tensed. So did John. When Ronon got angry, things tended to get exciting. "They're doing something about the Wraith," said the Satedan after a moment. "That's more than you are."
"I have responsibilities to my people!"
"So does Teyla; that doesn't stop her from fighting back."
John couldn't have said it better himself. And it sounded good coming from Ronon - more valid from another Pegasus native.
"Not all of life is about fighting back," flashed Lian. "And if my people fought back the Wraith would simply obliterate us. We are not Sateda, Ronon Dex."
If anything, the mention of his ruined homeworld only made Ronon more furious. Still, he managed to keep his temper - when Teyla caught his eye. The words he'd been going to say were bitten back and he settled for a terse comment. "I can see that."
"Look, Lian, you can't use the Ancients' technology." John kept his voice level and low, both to avoid the distorting echoes and to make his point clear. This wasn't the time to get angry and start yelling - at least, it wasn't the time to start yelling; he was already angry. "You don't have the people to use it, you don't have the technology to modify yourselves to be able to use it. We can. If you give the devices to us - or trade them, whichever you prefer - then we can make them work. That was our original bargain."
"That bargain was made before the Wraith found us," said Lian.
"Which has absolutely nothing to do with the bargain," Rodney exclaimed, throwing his hands out in exasperation. "You still can't use the devices and won't ever be able to."
"Perhaps not," Lian spoke, his voice gentle and oddly lethal. "But I can prevent them from falling into the wrong hands."
"Lian--"
Teyla's interruption went unheeded.
John felt anger rush through him, intoxicating as desire, fierce as a punch in the gut. "The wrong hands?"
"What are you talking about?" Rodney was protesting, "We're the good guys here!"
"So you tell me," Lian said, unperturbed by their protests. "And yet it was your coming to this galaxy that prompted the start of the Wraith raids." He looked from John to Rodney and back to John again. "It was your coming to this planet that prompted the raid upon my people."
"That was pure coincidence," John argued, his eyes narrow.
"Oh? As was the raid upon Teyla's people the day you arrived in her camp as you arrived in mine today?" Lian looked at Teyla. "I am not so trusting as she."
"Lian." Teyla's voice cut through the argument, clear and edged like a knife. "They have proved themselves no friend to the Wraith. This is all happenstance - no design to it."
The Noyian man didn't look away from John's eyes. It was like an adolescent staring competition, neither man willing to look away. "You still believe that?"
"I do."
"In the face of the trouble your people have seen? In spite of what you have witnessed here? You said it yourself: turmoil and the Wraith come hard on the heels of your 'friends' and yet you follow them, blind to their faults."
John could barely believe what he was hearing. And if John was angry, Teyla didn't seem much less furious. "Not so blindly as you would believe."
He'd only heard that tone of voice from her a handful of times; most usually directed at others, but once or twice turned upon him. Right now, he was just as glad it was aimed at Lian. "Teyla's not an idiot," John added. "We've earned her trust."
"You have not earned mine."
"Then give us a chance! Look, we defended your people against the Wraith!"
"You brought the Wraith to us."
John couldn't believe this. The man was beyond paranoid. "Look," he said forcefully. "We came here on a whim. We met you and were willing to trade. The Wraith attack was just a coincidence. They're attacking everywhere."
"And who is responsible for that, John Sheppard of Atlantis?" Lian's voice had gone whiplike and cold, and his expression was terrible. "Who was it woke the Wraith up in such numbers; leaving us prey to their depredations?"
John paused, stung by the accusation. "That was an accident. And, if you haven't noticed, we're not 'leaving you prey' to the Wraith. We're in the middle of it, trying to clean things up!"
"By taking what you feel is your right?"
"If you're referring to the devices, we're willing to trade for them! If we were going to just take them from you, then we wouldn't be bothering with this conversation. We'd just come back and steal them when your back was turned." Disgusted with the man, and frustrated with the conversation, John emphasised his point. "We're not like that."
"So you say."
"So we are!" Rodney snapped. "So are you going to trade us the devices or are you going to point fingers and complain about how bad things are?"
John wondered if Rodney was aware of the irony in his statement.
"We will not trade the devices. That is my final word on the matter."
"Lian--"
"No." He cut her off, finally turning to look at her. John felt his fingers twitch at the way Lian was looking at her. "You trust them, Teyla. I cannot - I will not. If you wish to bring your people here to live among mine, then they are welcome. You are welcome here." There was venom in the look he shot at John. "They and their people are not."
She hesitated a long moment - long enough to make John nervous. He'd never really discussed his awakening of the Wraith in Pegasus with Teyla; and Lian might be angry, but he was still charismatic. Just because Teyla was angry didn't mean she wouldn't listen; and just because Lian was wrong didn't mean she mightn't take his words to heart.
Still, whatever she thought of Lian's opinions of Atlantis, she kept her ground. "I will tell my people of your offer," she said after a moment. "But I do not think they will accept. If you will not give or trade us the devices, will you accept our help to rebuild?"
"Your help, or theirs?"
"My help and theirs."
Lian's expression grew cold. "No," he said. "We will not. You may hope for the destruction of the Wraith, Teyla. I cannot."
"So you'll run and hide from the Wraith forever?"
The Noyian man glared at Ronon. "We will do what we must to survive. Our peoples survived before they came to our lands; we will continue as we have done in the past."
"We're not asking for a lot," said John, trying one more time. He had the feeling he was only making his case worse, but he had to give it a shot. "You'll get things you need in exchange - things you can actually use. The Ancients' devices aren't any good to you."
"You're not even using them!" Rodney burst out, exasperated beyond patience. "You're just being selfish about them!"
Lian's expression didn't change, but he shifted slightly. It wasn't quite a challenge, but John tensed in reaction, his instincts waiting for the first strike. It didn't come. "I believe you have made your point as I have made mine," Lian said, his voice colder than ice. "I ask you to leave, now."
John was feeling just angry enough to consider asking what the man would do if they didn't. Then Teyla caught his eye and her head jerked ever so slightly toward the entrance to the cave. She felt it was time for them to leave, not to stand around and argue. Privately, John was inclined to agree.
"All right, then," he said. "We'll leave. But the offer remains open: those devices in exchange for any help you want or need."
Lian shrugged. "We have survived in times past; we will do so again."
And that was that.
Still, as he turned to make sure his team were coming, John noticed that Lian had caught Teyla's arm and was saying something to her, too low to hear. He waved Ronon and Rodney on, and waited.
John didn't call her, didn't command her, didn't say a thing or even look at her. He just stood in the cavern entrance, exchanging a few quiet words with the Noyians willing to thank him and his team, told Anneka that he probably wouldn't be coming back and that she should grow up strong to fight the Wraith, and waited for Teyla.
She would be coming back to Atlantis. He knew it deep in his bones.
Still, when she turned away from Lian and walked towards him, John felt a surge of triumph, pleasurable and undiplomatic. It wasn't a competition, but it was.
Lian glared at John, but John didn't smile, didn't smirk, didn't gloat. He didn't need to.
Teyla had made her choice, and Lian was the loser from it.
As he followed Teyla out of the cave, keeping an eye on the caramel-coloured hair a few steps in front, something quivered deep in his soul - a momentary recognition of what this team-mate of his truly meant to him.
Then they caught up to Rodney and Ronon, and John forgot everything other than the desire to get home to Atlantis.
- tbc -
Part 5
SUMMARY: One of John's first memories of the Pegasus galaxy was a culling - the culling that had changed so many things for John, for the expedition, for the Pegasus galaxy. Now it was happening again.
CATEGORY: team, drama, action-adventure
RATING: PG-13
DISCLAIMER: Nothing to do with Stargate Atlantis belongs to me, I'm just borrowing them for the moment.
NOTES: When I was looking through this chapter for posting, it occurred to me that this is really the last 'chapter' of the story, and part 5 is really just an epilogue or story closure. Nearly there!
Kindred - Part 4
One of John's first memories of the Pegasus galaxy was a culling - the culling that had changed so many things for John, for the expedition, for the Pegasus galaxy.
This culling was nothing like that first time.
"It's so organised!" John heard Rodney exclaiming as his team ran through the camp looking for anyone who'd been left behind.
"They have planned for this since they heard of the raids on other planets," Teyla said as she came down a branch path towards them. "There are caves - including the one where the devices are kept." Her gaze lifted to the sky. "We should follow them."
"Might be a good idea to take cover," said Ronon.
"Take Rodney and head for the caves," John said to Teyla. "Ronon and I are going for the 'jumper."
"Wait! Why's he going to the 'jumper?" Rodney swung around from the tent he'd been looking into. "What if you encounter technical difficulties?"
John pushed Rodney in the direction of Teyla. "You won't make it back to the 'jumper in time," he said forcefully. "Ronon and I can do it. You can't."
"Colonel!" She caught Rodney's arm but was still turned towards him. "You cannot fight back."
Her words stopped him short. "Why not?"
The concern in her expression cut him to the bone. "Because to do so would let the Wraith know that there is more here than just people to be culled," she said. "If they believe that there are only Noyians, then they will not come back."
"They'll just come back to cull them again."
Ronon's expression had turned grim. "Resistance is squashed."
"Look, it's the only means we have of fighting back--"
"Okay, how about we argue somewhere under cover?" Rodney yelled, pointing at the sky where the silvery darts had just begun to appear. "I mean, unless you want to be taken by the Wraith--"
He broke off at that exact moment because Teyla's head tilted up to look at the sky, her eyes taking on the unfocused look that meant the Wraith were very near. Distantly, he heard the sound of the dart engines, whining through the air with a noise like tearing silk.
"Move," he ordered Rodney as he grabbed Teyla's arm. "Come on." He knew without looking around that Ronon was a step behind him - the man had good survival instincts and wasn't in a hurry to be recaptured by the Wraith.
She stumbled, temporarily dragging on John's arm, then regained her footing and shook him off. John intercepted the glance she shot him. After his comments of before, he wasn't forgiven, not by a long shot.
The team ran through the deserted camp, half an eye on the sky and the darts arrowing in.
"Any idea how many?" John asked her.
"Two," she said. "They are close."
He didn't need to be told that - he already knew it. The screaming engines grew louder and louder in his ears as they passed empty tents, heading down towards the caves where Lian had kept his treasures.
"On us!" Ronon bellowed from behind. John felt himself grabbed by the flak vest and half-dragged aside by the Satedan, almost losing his footing in the process. He stumbled into someone's set of pots and pans, the clatter barely heard over the all-encompassing whine of the Wraith dart. One foot trod down on the edge of a pot and he hissed as he turned his ankle, but managed the next step.
The shimmering white veil swept past John, missing him by mere inches. Ronon's grip loosened and he grabbed hold of one of the tent-poles to regain his balance and moved back out into the main thoroughfare, looking for the other two. "Rodney? Teyla?"
He didn't realise he'd been holding his breath until Rodney's grumpy protest came from the wreckage of a collapsed tent across the way. "She shoved me!"
Teyla rolled over and accepted John's hand up, as did Rodney.
"Saved your life," Ronon grunted from behind them. "And they're coming back."
There wasn't going to be any reprieve for them - not until they got to the caves.
At least four hundred yards, John thought to himself. Possibly more. And that was weaving their way through the tents. He prodded Rodney on. "You can dust yourself off later."
During one of the passes, Teyla and Rodney took a branch-off, splitting away from the main path. John watched them go and trusted to Teyla's instincts. She'd get herself and Rodney out of danger; he could rely on that at least.
Running through the camp was a nightmare, dodging and ducking, trying to keep an eye on the darts overhead, tripping over tent lines and bruising themselves on tent-pegs in the process, and herding along those who'd been too slow to get moving when the alarm was given.
They picked up three teens, a couple who'd been out foraging when the Wraith came and were only alerted by the sound of the darts, two kids who'd been playing up on the hill, and an older man who limped along, his joints aching but otherwise hale.
As he jogged alongside the older man and the couple, with Ronon keeping an eye on the darts overhead, John wondered where Lian was. There'd been no sign of the Noyian leader since the attack began, and John wouldn't have put it past the man to be hiding away while the remnants of his people were left behind.
So he didn't think much of the guy. He hadn't been given much reason.
"Sheppard! They're lining up!"
John risked a glance to the right and behind of him and swore.
It looked like the Wraith pilots were getting sneaky. Instead of flying one at a time, there were two flying side-by-side, doubling their sweep range and making it more difficult for the humans to dodge.
"Split," he yelled at Ronon. "Double their targets."
Ronon nodded, and began hustling the couple away, off one of the right-branching tracks.
"You should go ahead," the older man said calmly. "Leave me here."
"Not going to happen," said John, grimly pressing on and looking for a leftwards branch-off. "Nobody gets left behind."
The older man pushed him aside, "Son, I've lived my life!"
"Oh, I'm pretty sure you've got a few years yet to go--" The darts were nearly on them. "Come on!"
It was going to be close. Really close. Too close...
John saw the white curtain of the dematerialiser out of the corner of his eye, knew that they weren't far out enough to play chicken - not successfully.
He had a moment to think of Atlantis, of his team - Rodney, Ronon, Teyla...
Then the guy he was escorting spun around, digging his hands into John's jacket. Before John could voice anything more than a momentary surprise, the man swung him around and out of the path of the beam, using momentum to fling him out of the way.
A curtain of light flashed by, mere inches from John as he tumbled backwards among crates of something, his sight full of the dark afterimage of the man superimposed on the brilliant white of the dematerialiser beam. He rolled to his feet, grabbing hold of a tent line for balance, but the darts were gone, and so was the Noyian.
In the sky above, the darts turned, preparing to come back.
There was a moment when he considered giving it up. Stepping into the beam and taking his chances with the Wraith...
"Colonel!"
Teyla stood a few yards away at the intersection of paths. Irritation heated John's skin as he snapped, "I told you to go on with Rodney!"
"Rodney is safe," she said coolly as he picked his way out of the jumble of household goods into which he'd fallen. "We caught up with other Noyians and he is following them to their hideout." She looked beyond him. "Where is Ronon?"
"We split," he said, taking her arm and encouraging her to move with a small push. "The darts are flying side by side - they went one way, we went another."
She headed off between the maze of tents while John kept a wary eye on the darts coming back for them. "I should have gone for the 'jumper when they first arrived."
"They would only send more," Teyla said briskly. "These people can run from two darts. They cannot run from twenty, or a hundred. Do you remember the culling on Orin's world?"
John did. It wasn't one of his better memories, having to sit still and listen to people screaming, running, dying... Only the knowledge that Atlantis needed the information on the Wraith numbers had kept him still - for all that Teyla had accused him of not understanding family.
His need to protect his own family had kept him from fighting back then.
Her need to protect these people - similar to hers - kept him from fighting back now.
They ran through the camp, Teyla keeping an eye where they were going, John keeping an eye on the sky. At least one of the darts had gone, only one screamed overhead, and that one was mostly avoidable.
Mostly.
He caught his foot on a tent peg as they sidestepped another pass by the dart, and tumbled against the heavy canvas of one of the tents, sagging on the unsupported material. They were heavy enough to tip the tent a little, but it had been firmly poled and pegged and they found themselves hanging on a swinging expanse of cloth, unable to get a firm grip on anything to give them leverage with which to stand up.
Teyla's noise of protest was muffled in the hair just behind his ear, but John was only too aware of the warmth of her body through the material of her BDUs and his. He tried to ignore the feel of her mouth in his hair, her body under his as he flailed around, seeking something solid beneath the tent to help him up. Their proximity was making it har-- difficult.
It's just a reaction to near-death experiences, he told himself as he gave up and slid down until he was close enough to the ground that his centre of gravity allowed him to regain his balance. The fact that he'd had to work his way down her body didn't help matters, but he stood and grabbed her arm to pull her up, careful not to look her in the eye.
"Thank you," she said, and John told himself the breathlessness in her voice was entirely due to the fact that they'd been running. Still, he didn't let go of her and she let him pull her along, her hand remaining in his as they reached the edge of the tents and ran across the field, heading for the safety of the caves
John's neck crawled as they ran across the grassy stubble of the field. His instincts told him that out in the open was the worst place to be with an enemy closing in. Experience reminded him that out in the open was the best place to face the darts, with more room to get out of the way of the sweeping dematerialisers.
Either way, out in the open was the only way they'd make it to the relative safety that the caves might provide.
And he could have gone for the 'jumper, even if he didn't fight back.
He hoped to God that Rodney and Ronon had made it to safety; there wasn't time to check on them, even to radio. He had to trust to their survival instincts.
"Ready to run?"
Her nod was brisk and they ran for it, sprinting across the wide green sward, only too aware that another dart was arrowing in to pick them up if it could. Teyla swiftly outpaced John; for a woman of her stature, she could sure run. John kept up as best he could, but the Wraith were coming back...
"Teyla!"
She'd slowed down so John was alongside her; and even as he grabbed her arm, she lunged into him, pushing them both down to the ground and out of the way of the beam. They rolled over, the breath whooshing from their lungs as they hit the ground. On the second roll, as his limbs made contact with the ground, John climbed fluidly to his feet, using his weight as a counterbalance to haul her up with him. It was as neat as if they'd practised it.
Then he saw her hand reaching for her sidearm, and began to turn, reaching for his own P-90.
Her first shots rang out as John got his weapon into position. His first spatter of fire caught the first two Wraith in the chest, not killing them, but slowing them - and giving Teyla enough time to get her own weapon into place.
Four Wraith stood there, one with a face, the other three without. Two were injured, but another had a stunner up and pointed at them.
John spun wide of the blast, moving away from Teyla, forcing the Wraith to follow two targets. Vaguely, he was aware of the dart coming back and clicked his radio on. "Rodney?"
"Sheppard? Where are you? Look, it's way too--"
John fired his gun one-handed, not really caring if he wasted ammo at this point. He had at least one spare clip, but more Wraith were being beamed down even as he spoke. "Rodney, they're beaming Wraith down. We've got six...eight against Teyla and me. Get us some backup!"
"Backup? From where? Wait! Ronon's on his way. And Lian."
"You can show them how to use the stunners," Teyla's voice came over the radio. It sounded odd; John could hear her from where she was moving, several yards away, and through the radio.
"What she said, Rodney. And hurry up!" They were outnumbered, there was no cover, and it was getting tiring to dodge the blasts. The Wraith were beginning to spread out, too, making it more difficult to hit them. Things weren't looking good.
The air was filled with noise: the Wraith dart screaming overhead, the whomp of the stunners, the chatter of bullet-fire; it was hardly surprising that John didn't hear Ronon approaching until the first gunshot.
They'd tried to take Ronon's guns apart, to find out what made them work. The energy source was apparently something close to a black box, and Ronon refused to let the scientists take it apart. Rodney had tried to argue Ronon down - as much as he could argue with someone who just waited until he ran out of breath and then said, "No."
Whatever made it work, however it managed to produce the charge it did, it was damned effective against the Wraith. One collapsed completely, another dropped its stunner but was advancing towards them.
And the dart screamed overhead, the white wave washing over them.
John felt the glow touch him, felt his skin prickle, and realised this was the first time he'd ever been caught up in a dematerialiser...
Then the light faded and the blow caught him in the small of the back.
The dart had been rematerialising Wraith among them, not dematerialising John and his team.
He stumbled, turned, and re-angled his P-90 up to take the Wraith in the chest cavity. Beyond the white, fanged figure Ronon was fighting with both fist and weapon, and Teyla had moved in to take on the last of their initial opponents, using her sidearm in much the same way as she would one of her staves.
Past Ronon, on the ledge of the path up to the caves, John could see others fighting; Lian, the Noyian smith with biceps like Arnie, a middle-aged woman who was wielding a stunner clumsily in the space between the cliff face and the edge of the path.
There wasn't much space.
Even as John reached for his sidearm - the P90 would be of no use in close quarters except as a club - the smith wrestled one of the Wraith off the ledge, but unbalanced himself in the process and tried to clutch for something - anything - as he fell.
His fingers caught in the long hair of the Wraith fighting Ronon, jerking both Wraith and man out of their close-quarters fight. Wraith and Noyian fell like a stone towards the water of the river below; Ronon teetered at the edge, trying to regain his balance.
John ran forward, hooking his fingers into the Satedan's jacket and yanking him back, then peered out into the river. He didn't give the man much hope for survival in the chilly runoff, but they'd take the 'jumper out to look for him when they managed to hold off the Wraith.
Further along the slate path, Lian was fighting a Wraith in close quarters, using a stunner as his staff. If John hadn't believed that Lian was anything like Teyla, he couldn't deny the evidence of his eyes - the man had the same uncanny instincts as Teyla when it came to fighting. Every blow from the Wraith, every swipe, every thrust was matched and met as Lian battled against it, the handsome face fierce with concentration.
"There are more in the cave," Ronon said as he pulled a knife and flung it. The Wraith paused in its attack, trying to claw the hilt from between his shoulder blades. Lian used the opportunity to slam the end of the stunner into the creature's gut, throwing it off the ledge.
Beyond him, the woman wasn't quite so skilled. Hadn't been so skilled. Her face was blank and hollow as the Wraith drained life force from her. John lifted his gun as Ronon pulled a second knife and Lian raised the stunner.
The Wraith probably never knew what hit it.
Lian knelt by the woman as she collapsed, shaking her. "Ginean!"
Ronon slipped past Lian and the woman, up to the cave. A touch at John's shoulder showed Teyla, pushing him after their team-mate. "Some have entered the cave," she said. "Go. I will help bring her in."
He ran.
Inside the cave, there were shouts and cries, whimpers that echoed oddly through the caverns of the cave - and the sound of bullets being fired. Rodney was somewhere in there, defending himself - and possibly others. Ronon was already fighting a Wraith, barely holding his own. Further in the shadows, one of the Noyians struggled against the Wraith - nothing more than a dark blur behind the armoured back of the creature.
John pulled his sidearm and looked for an opportunity to fire.
His best chance was to get a shot in while the Wraith's back was turned - distraction, the way Ronon had helped Lian despatch the Wraith back on the ledge.
There were no chances.
As if the creature was aware of his thoughts, it kept Ronon between John and itself, leaving no opportunity for him to fire. Its compatriot further in was more accommodating, and John shifted along the edge of the cave, aimed, and fired. Four bullets found their mark in its back, piercing its leather like armour so it arched in pain and protest. It collapsed, letting go of its victim - a woman whose pale, adult face was an ugly shade of grey - and he started across the cave towards her.
Ronon made a grunting noise as the Wraith landed a blow in his belly, then another on his head. As he doubled over, the creature laid its hand on his throat, the garish mouth spreading in pleased profile as it began to drain Ronon's life-force.
John fired, almost blindly, saw the Wraith jerk back, and his finger tightened on the trigger again--
The stunner blast came out of the shadows, slamming into him with brutal force. It knocked him down, butting his head against the floor. His vision jolted, bright then dark, and when it stabilised, the pale face staring malevolently down at him was no comfort at all.
His gun was somewhere on the sandy floor, and the punch he swung at the Wraith was blocked - swatted, like an errant fly.
The slit-palmed hand reached out, almost lazily towards his throat, and John swivelled his legs, trying to kick the hungry hand away.
A volley of bullets took the Wraith in the skull, puncturing hard bone and tearing out brain matter. John flinched back, pressing his shoulder blades even further into the rock-and-sand of the cave bottom. The creature began to collapse, the gore-spattered face falling towards John in eerie slow-mo. Instinctively panicking, he kicked out at the creature, heaving his body away from the grisly sight.
Another four shots rang out, then a strong grip on his jacket helped him away from the Wraith, and John looked down into Teyla's anxious face. "It did not touch you?"
He shook his head. "Didn't get that close. Thanks."
She smiled at briefly him, but her gaze was already turning away. "You are welcome." He followed her as she stepped beyond him, past Ronon who was on his knees, gasping, but apparently none the worse for the Wraith's attack on him, to where Lian was propping a woman upright, his fingers pushing her hair back from her face.
John stifled the automatic anger he felt at her attendance on the Noyian and went to Ronon instead, crouching down to lay a hand on the other man's shoulder. "You gonna be okay?"
Dark eyes glanced up, "Yes." Ronon took a deep breath and rubbed at his chest where the throat of his shirt lay open. Absently, John remembered that Ronon was immune to the Wraith. "McKay was shooting something."
John clicked his radio, "Rodney?"
"We're all fine here. Well, a bit squashed in, but we're alive." There was a grunting noise and Rodney's voice grew faint. "It's a device - no you may not-- Because I say you can't! Sheppard?" Rodney was speaking directly into the radio again.
"Still here."
"Teyla and Ronon?"
Ronon was already climbing to his feet, reaching for his gun and headed back to the entrance to the cave. Teyla glanced back at John, her face oddly shadowed in the dimness of the cave. "They're fine."
"Are there more coming?"
If he concentrated past the murmuring echoes of the cave, he could still hear the darts screaming by. And in that moment, Ronon lifted his gun and began firing again.
John followed. "That's an affirmative."
"'Yes' would have done," Rodney's grumble was just audible before the radio went silent. John was concerned for a second; then the echoes further in the cave took on the cadence and tone of an irritated astrophysicist explaining something to people he considered of inferior intellect. Hard-pressed to keep the smile off his face, John concentrated on stopping any more Wraith from reaching the cave.
Between him and Ronon, they stopped the next party dead. It took more ammo than John liked - the Wraith just refused to lie down and die properly - and then another party of Wraith was beamed down.
John ducked back behind the ledge to reload, frowning. "How many darts did they bring?" So far, they'd shot down at least a dozen Wraith - far more than would be expected in your standard hunting party.
Usually all it took was two or three to cow a settlement - why so many this time?
"At least three," Ronon grunted. "Probably more."
"Did they get anyone?"
"Some. Older people. They stayed behind to draw the Wraith away." Ronon sounded revolted by the idea, but respectful.
John winced. "Yeah, I...saw." Absently, he resolved to find out the name of the older man - if he had to question every Noyian to get it.
With his P-90 reloaded, John went back to picking off the Wraith. At least the Wraith couldn't beam into the cave, even if they could aim their stunners at the points where John and Ronon were leaning around the edge of the cave.
Then a well-timed blast spun John around, shoving him back from the shoulder. He got his finger off the trigger before the arc of his aim got to Ronon, but it was close.
"Teyla!" Ronon didn't even glance at her as John eased himself over to the wall.
She knelt beside him. "Are you okay?"
He was massaging his shoulder, "Numb," he said simply. "Do they need help behind?"
"Rodney is giving them a lesson in the Wraith stunners," she said as she brought up her weapon, staying just out of sight of the opening. She ducked around and blasted off a few rounds with her typical precision; Teyla made her shots count. She leaned back behind the sheltering rock again. "They are not fast learners."
"He's not a very good teacher," John noted, climbing to his feet and wincing as a dozen small aches made themselves known to him, from the ankle he'd earlier twisted to the pins-and-needles of his numb shoulder. "Hold here and radio me if there's a problem."
The dead Wraith on the floor matched their counterparts on the wall, and from the footprints dragging across the floor it looked like Lian had helped the woman back to the caves where the Noyians were hiding.
Tunnels twisted this way and that, massed voices echoing down the rough shafts with the slightly formal speech of the Noyians. And one very distinctive, very aggravated Canadian accent coming through loud and clear. John followed that path with something like a smile and something like a wince.
"Don't hold it like a spear! It's a stunner! You want it pointed higher!"
A loose semicircle of Noyians closed around Rodney, who was scowling at one man. He'd forgotten just how bad a teacher Rodney was. A lack of patience with your students was the first way to persuade them that they'd never want to learn what you were teaching; either that, or they'd never want to learn it from you.
"Rodney," John said with a nod at the Noyians. "I see you're being your usual tactful self."
The scientist looked up at him with a slight frown across his features. "What are you doing here?"
Rodney's bluntness didn't nettle him; after eighteen months, John was used to the other man's complete lack of tact. "And it's good to see you, too," he replied.
"Shouldn't you be helping Teyla and Ronon?"
The Noyians ranged from the adolescent to nearly John's age. "Got hit in the shoulder," he said, rolling the injured joint. "Figured I'd come and see how the troops were coming along." He flashed a brief grin at the assembled people.
"They're dreadful," Rodney said without shame or hesitation, looking sourly along the line of Noyians who looked either hurt or exasperated.
One of the adolescent boys burst out, "If he would teach us how to use these weapons instead of harping about how we are not of the standard--"
"I do not harp!"
John reached out to take the stunner from the nearest person - a young woman whose polite and careful gaze reminded him of Teyla the first time they'd met. With a faint frown, he wondered where Umaya was. He'd have expected she'd be somewhere among the ones trying to fight back. "Hold it under your arm, like this," he demonstrated, wincing as his shoulder protested. The feeling was definitely returning. "Then it's got somewhere to go when the recoil happens."
At the blank looks he got when he mentioned recoil, John shook his head. "Never mind. Stay behind the rock ledge - there's no point in getting a shot off if they hit you in the process. And watch where you're pointing that thing," he added, indicating one of the young women who was aiming her weapon at him. "Friendly fire isn't. And if Ronon or Teyla tell you to do something - don't hesitate, it might save your life."
"Won't be necessary," said Ronon.
John turned to where his friend stood at the entrance of this set of tunnels. "They've gone?"
Ronon shrugged, "Apparently." There were sighs of relief from the assembled group. Apparently they'd been willing to fight the Wraith, they just didn't much want to. John couldn't blame them - wasn't that what he was doing in Pegasus? Still, Ronon looked rather grim, and he couldn't help asking, "Teyla?"
"Keeping an eye out."
"Will they be back?" The question burst from the young man who'd objected to Rodney's comment.
John, Ronon and Rodney exchanged looks.
"Well, sooner or later they'll be back," Rodney said after a moment. "Now that they know you're here."
From the fearful looks among the Noyians, Rodney's pronouncement wasn't good news. "But for the moment," John said, "You're safe."
"And when they come back?"
"You'll deal with that when you have to," John told them as Ronon turned away to check on Teyla.
"That time may come sooner than later," said Lian from one of the side passages. His voice grated slightly, harsh with an anger that flared as he looked at John. "We will hold council when we return to the camp. In the meantime," he looked directly at John, "There is someone who wishes to see you."
--
At first he didn't recognise the woman leaning back against the rough rock of one of the caves, her face in shadow, furs wrapped around her shoulders.
Then she raised her head, and the dark eyes speared through him.
"Am I old enough now?"
John hoped he managed to keep the shock he felt off his features as he looked at the expression on the now-mature face; the bitter mockery that tinged Umaya's features, undisguised. As it was, he felt cold, just looking at her.
He'd shot the Wraith in the back four times and only glimpsed a woman's face by the flickering light of the torches set. There'd been no connection between the girl who'd confronted him and the pale, grey-faced woman who gasped for air, life, and the youth that was lost her.
No-one quite knew what it was the Wraith took from humans. Life, certainly, but exactly what part of 'life' wasn't known. Carson said it was a mystery as life itself was a mystery, and then confessed that he didn't know. The only thing they knew for sure was that it aged a person physically. The Wraith child Ellia had drained years from her adopted father, until his own father didn't recognise him. Colonel Everett had aged decades in the span of hours, while Colonel Sumner had gone from forty to ninety in the blink of John's eye, drained by the gatekeeper before John gave him mercy.
Now Umaya looked up at John with the face of a woman in her mid-thirties, but the angry, hurt eyes of a child. She might look of an age with him now, but John could see the fifteen year-old staring out of the woman's face.
"Umaya--"
"It was never just my age, was it?" She said, her eyes never leaving his face. John felt stripped bare by the ferocity of her gaze.
"No," he said. "I said it wasn't."
Now she dropped her eyes, the flush touching her cheeks. For a moment, it gave her the youth she'd lost. "And I did not believe you."
She hadn't wanted to believe him.
"What'll happen?" John wasn't sure he wanted to know what the Noyians would do with Umaya - looking older than Lian, but half his age. He turned to Lian who still stood at the door, his expression hard. "What'll happen to her?"
The Noyian leader shrugged. "She will learn to live with what has been done to her." If Lian didn't seem to have any pity for Umaya, at least he wasn't contemptuous or horrified. "As we will learn to live with the Wraith dogging our heels." He glanced past John to Umaya, and stalked away.
John turned back to the once-girl, but she was staring at her hands as though seeing them for the first time. "We have people who can counsel you about this," he said. "If you want to talk to someone about this--"
"And what could be done other than talk?" The dark eyes fixed him, their anguish evident, even in the darkness of the cave.
"At least you're alive." It was trite, but she managed something like a smile.
"Yes." And she fixed her gaze on her hands again.
John left her sitting in the room. Not alone at least, a gaggle of women of varying ages entered the cave room as he left, but thoughtful.
He went back through the caves, absently remembering the turns he'd taken, looking for either his team or Lian. They'd have to call back to Atlantis, let them know what happened. Offer the Noyians assistance in moving if they wanted to move, or help if they wanted to rebuild. There was still the technology to be bargained - although their help in defending the Noyians might earn them some goodwill, at least among people who weren't Khenar Lian - and why had he ever thought that leadership was a cool thing?
John wondered if it was too late to ask to be assigned to another posting.
"John! John-John-John-John!" Anneka bounced up beside him, co-opting his hand. "Did you see the Wraith? Were you out there fighting? Milla said you were probably somewhere in the caves, but Umaya said you'd be fighting them and she went to help! I wanted to help, but Milla wouldn't let me go. And we ran and were scared but they've gone away now, haven't they?"
Assaulted by the verbal flood, John half-smiled. "Yeah, they're gone. Shouldn't you be with Milla?"
The little girl shook her head. "Milla's talking with Makhel," she said. "Again."
And this after she'd tried to seduce John earlier today. "Fast worker," John muttered, more to himself than the kid. "Okay," he said at normal volume. "I'm looking for my friends and Lian because we need to talk about what happened here. But this is big-people stuff, so I think you should go and find one of your friends."
Shoulders sagged and the little face scrunched up in disgust. "But I want to go with you!"
"Anneka." The tone of voice had worked on him when he was a kid, he didn't see why it wouldn't work on her.
She scowled at him, huffed and stomped away.
John sighed. Older kids - Jinto's age - he could manage; Anneka was old enough to have a bad case of hero-worship, but young enough to be stubborn. And he had a feeling the conversation that was about to take place shouldn't be witnessed by the kids.
There were raised voices ahead, carrying through the weirdly-shaped tunnels. One of them was Rodney's, high with disbelief, while Ronon's words were short and sharp, and Teyla's smoother tones and uneven cadences resonated calmly through the thread of discussion.
John pushed past the people who gathered warily at the edge of the cavern, listening to the argument but not participating in it.
"You can't go back on your word like that!" Rodney expostulated.
"I can and I will," Lian said, his eyes nearly black as John sauntered up.
"Something going on here?"
He knew what the problem was even before Rodney opened his mouth. "He's not going to trade the devices with us anymore!"
John took a deep breath and tried to remember that they had an audience. Now was not the time to get angry. Forceful, perhaps, but not angry.
Lian was speaking. "I have had time to think, and the things of the Ancestors were brought here for a purpose. To disturb them is folly."
"Folly?" Rodney spluttered. "It's folly to have all this stuff collected and never use it! This place is a mausoleum!"
Lian's expression didn't change, although he arched a brow at the description.
"A place where the dead are interred," Teyla said from the side. Her voice was more moderate, and the man actually listened to what she was saying, instead of dismissing it outright. "Lian, the things of the Ancestors were not meant to be kept stored and unused. That is not why the Ancestors created them. Let them be used for their original purpose."
"You do not know their original purpose." Okay, so Lian was listening, he just didn't heed what she was saying.
"Then give them the chance to find it out," Ronon said, making it sound like something obvious.
Blue eyes rested on Ronon, narrow and calculating. "Them?" Lian asked softly. "You work with them, live with them, but you do not identify with them."
Ronon tensed. So did John. When Ronon got angry, things tended to get exciting. "They're doing something about the Wraith," said the Satedan after a moment. "That's more than you are."
"I have responsibilities to my people!"
"So does Teyla; that doesn't stop her from fighting back."
John couldn't have said it better himself. And it sounded good coming from Ronon - more valid from another Pegasus native.
"Not all of life is about fighting back," flashed Lian. "And if my people fought back the Wraith would simply obliterate us. We are not Sateda, Ronon Dex."
If anything, the mention of his ruined homeworld only made Ronon more furious. Still, he managed to keep his temper - when Teyla caught his eye. The words he'd been going to say were bitten back and he settled for a terse comment. "I can see that."
"Look, Lian, you can't use the Ancients' technology." John kept his voice level and low, both to avoid the distorting echoes and to make his point clear. This wasn't the time to get angry and start yelling - at least, it wasn't the time to start yelling; he was already angry. "You don't have the people to use it, you don't have the technology to modify yourselves to be able to use it. We can. If you give the devices to us - or trade them, whichever you prefer - then we can make them work. That was our original bargain."
"That bargain was made before the Wraith found us," said Lian.
"Which has absolutely nothing to do with the bargain," Rodney exclaimed, throwing his hands out in exasperation. "You still can't use the devices and won't ever be able to."
"Perhaps not," Lian spoke, his voice gentle and oddly lethal. "But I can prevent them from falling into the wrong hands."
"Lian--"
Teyla's interruption went unheeded.
John felt anger rush through him, intoxicating as desire, fierce as a punch in the gut. "The wrong hands?"
"What are you talking about?" Rodney was protesting, "We're the good guys here!"
"So you tell me," Lian said, unperturbed by their protests. "And yet it was your coming to this galaxy that prompted the start of the Wraith raids." He looked from John to Rodney and back to John again. "It was your coming to this planet that prompted the raid upon my people."
"That was pure coincidence," John argued, his eyes narrow.
"Oh? As was the raid upon Teyla's people the day you arrived in her camp as you arrived in mine today?" Lian looked at Teyla. "I am not so trusting as she."
"Lian." Teyla's voice cut through the argument, clear and edged like a knife. "They have proved themselves no friend to the Wraith. This is all happenstance - no design to it."
The Noyian man didn't look away from John's eyes. It was like an adolescent staring competition, neither man willing to look away. "You still believe that?"
"I do."
"In the face of the trouble your people have seen? In spite of what you have witnessed here? You said it yourself: turmoil and the Wraith come hard on the heels of your 'friends' and yet you follow them, blind to their faults."
John could barely believe what he was hearing. And if John was angry, Teyla didn't seem much less furious. "Not so blindly as you would believe."
He'd only heard that tone of voice from her a handful of times; most usually directed at others, but once or twice turned upon him. Right now, he was just as glad it was aimed at Lian. "Teyla's not an idiot," John added. "We've earned her trust."
"You have not earned mine."
"Then give us a chance! Look, we defended your people against the Wraith!"
"You brought the Wraith to us."
John couldn't believe this. The man was beyond paranoid. "Look," he said forcefully. "We came here on a whim. We met you and were willing to trade. The Wraith attack was just a coincidence. They're attacking everywhere."
"And who is responsible for that, John Sheppard of Atlantis?" Lian's voice had gone whiplike and cold, and his expression was terrible. "Who was it woke the Wraith up in such numbers; leaving us prey to their depredations?"
John paused, stung by the accusation. "That was an accident. And, if you haven't noticed, we're not 'leaving you prey' to the Wraith. We're in the middle of it, trying to clean things up!"
"By taking what you feel is your right?"
"If you're referring to the devices, we're willing to trade for them! If we were going to just take them from you, then we wouldn't be bothering with this conversation. We'd just come back and steal them when your back was turned." Disgusted with the man, and frustrated with the conversation, John emphasised his point. "We're not like that."
"So you say."
"So we are!" Rodney snapped. "So are you going to trade us the devices or are you going to point fingers and complain about how bad things are?"
John wondered if Rodney was aware of the irony in his statement.
"We will not trade the devices. That is my final word on the matter."
"Lian--"
"No." He cut her off, finally turning to look at her. John felt his fingers twitch at the way Lian was looking at her. "You trust them, Teyla. I cannot - I will not. If you wish to bring your people here to live among mine, then they are welcome. You are welcome here." There was venom in the look he shot at John. "They and their people are not."
She hesitated a long moment - long enough to make John nervous. He'd never really discussed his awakening of the Wraith in Pegasus with Teyla; and Lian might be angry, but he was still charismatic. Just because Teyla was angry didn't mean she wouldn't listen; and just because Lian was wrong didn't mean she mightn't take his words to heart.
Still, whatever she thought of Lian's opinions of Atlantis, she kept her ground. "I will tell my people of your offer," she said after a moment. "But I do not think they will accept. If you will not give or trade us the devices, will you accept our help to rebuild?"
"Your help, or theirs?"
"My help and theirs."
Lian's expression grew cold. "No," he said. "We will not. You may hope for the destruction of the Wraith, Teyla. I cannot."
"So you'll run and hide from the Wraith forever?"
The Noyian man glared at Ronon. "We will do what we must to survive. Our peoples survived before they came to our lands; we will continue as we have done in the past."
"We're not asking for a lot," said John, trying one more time. He had the feeling he was only making his case worse, but he had to give it a shot. "You'll get things you need in exchange - things you can actually use. The Ancients' devices aren't any good to you."
"You're not even using them!" Rodney burst out, exasperated beyond patience. "You're just being selfish about them!"
Lian's expression didn't change, but he shifted slightly. It wasn't quite a challenge, but John tensed in reaction, his instincts waiting for the first strike. It didn't come. "I believe you have made your point as I have made mine," Lian said, his voice colder than ice. "I ask you to leave, now."
John was feeling just angry enough to consider asking what the man would do if they didn't. Then Teyla caught his eye and her head jerked ever so slightly toward the entrance to the cave. She felt it was time for them to leave, not to stand around and argue. Privately, John was inclined to agree.
"All right, then," he said. "We'll leave. But the offer remains open: those devices in exchange for any help you want or need."
Lian shrugged. "We have survived in times past; we will do so again."
And that was that.
Still, as he turned to make sure his team were coming, John noticed that Lian had caught Teyla's arm and was saying something to her, too low to hear. He waved Ronon and Rodney on, and waited.
John didn't call her, didn't command her, didn't say a thing or even look at her. He just stood in the cavern entrance, exchanging a few quiet words with the Noyians willing to thank him and his team, told Anneka that he probably wouldn't be coming back and that she should grow up strong to fight the Wraith, and waited for Teyla.
She would be coming back to Atlantis. He knew it deep in his bones.
Still, when she turned away from Lian and walked towards him, John felt a surge of triumph, pleasurable and undiplomatic. It wasn't a competition, but it was.
Lian glared at John, but John didn't smile, didn't smirk, didn't gloat. He didn't need to.
Teyla had made her choice, and Lian was the loser from it.
As he followed Teyla out of the cave, keeping an eye on the caramel-coloured hair a few steps in front, something quivered deep in his soul - a momentary recognition of what this team-mate of his truly meant to him.
Then they caught up to Rodney and Ronon, and John forgot everything other than the desire to get home to Atlantis.
- tbc -
Part 5
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