“Come on,” Sheppard said. “What’s wrong?”
“My access code,” Mara said. “It’s been locked out.”
“Great,” Sheppard replied. “Just great.”
“Don’t worry,” she laughed. “I know other codes.”
She keyed in a sequence of symbols, and the door slid open. Sheppard slipped quickly inside. Ronon, and Cumby were hunched over the view screen. They glanced up in shock, but even the sudden opening of the door couldn’t drag their attention from Rodney and the dragon for long.
“Come on,” Sheppard barked. “We’re no good to Rodney or anyone else if we all end up locked in here. Let’s move.”
“He’s wounded it twice,” Ronon said. “Never would have guessed.”
Sheppard and Mara slipped up beside them. Just as they did, Rodney and his mount lunged yet again. The lance bit deep, and the dragon reared up. It screamed, but there was more than pain in the sound. It was shrill and final, and even as the creature toppled backward, it was obvious it would never rise again.
“I don’t believe it!” Sheppard breathed.
But even as it died, it whipped its monstrous tail in a vicious arc. The roar of the crowd dropped to stunned silence as Rodney turned and saw it move — too late. The tail caught him dead on. It lifted him and the horse from the arena floor and drove them into the wall. The force of the blow was so great that the wall crumbled. Rodney, the tail, and the horse disappeared through the rubble. Dust rose, and the dragon lay still.
“No!” Cumby choked.
On the screen, Saul’s face appeared. “The dragon is dead,” he said, his voice grave but his eyes dancing with excitement. “Unfortunately, the brave warrior who defeated it has also passed on. When we have finished removing the rubble, the next battle will begin. Colonel Sheppard, wherever you are in the city, you have my condolences. You have lost a brave man.”
With a curse, Ronon slammed his fist into the wall and Sheppard dropped his eyes to the floor, breathing hard. He couldn’t believe it, couldn’t process this twisted reality.
Teyla was gone. Rodney was gone. His team was shattered.
Eyes squeezed shut he dragged in a breath, then another, struggling for self-control. But he couldn’t grieve here, he didn’t have that luxury. Their lives were measured in hours now and he had to get them home. With effort, he looked up into the bleak faces of Ronon and Cumby. This had to end.
“Come on,” he said, and didn’t recognize the dead voice that spoke. “We’re getting outa here. Now.”
“No. We should go back,” Ronon said. “We can’t leave them here.”
Sheppard met his gaze and saw in Ronon’s hooded eyes the same rage he felt, constricting his chest like a steel band. It was hard to draw breath against it, hard to focus on anything beyond it. “We have to go,” he said, grinding out the words. “There’s nothing we can do for them now.”
“We can kill Saul,” Ronon growled.
“He’s going to die anyway. And so will we, if we don’t leave. Now.”
“Does it matter? Some things are more important than survival.”
Sheppard looked away, back at the screen. He could see the creature being dragged away and with a sickening jolt saw the gleam of Rodney’s armor laying twisted in the rubble. “Vengeance?” he said, tasting the word in the bile that rose at the back of his throat. He looked at Ronon. “Do you think that’s what Teyla would have wanted? Or Rodney?”
Ronon didn’t answer, but behind him Cumby scratched a hand across his dirt-streaked face. “Ronon’s right,” he said. “We can’t just leave them here. What if they’re not dead?”
And for a moment he was back in the Afghan desert, Holland bleeding out in the sand and not a damn thing he could do about it. He looked away. “Doesn’t matter,” he said. “We can’t go back for them, there’s no time.”
“But — ”
“There’s no time!” he snapped. “We’re leaving, now. And that’s an order, soldier.”
Cumby stared at him and then Ronon said, “Sheppard’s right. If we go back, we all die.”
“Let’s go,” Sheppard said, heading for the door.
“To the star drive?” Mara said, tentative amid their grief and anger.
“No. To the gate. We’re getting out of here.”
“But you can’t go back to your city,” she said, confused. “Why would you go to the gate? I thought — ”
He spun around. “Look, the only one of us who could have changed the course of this city was Rodney. And he’s dead. So, we have one chance to get out of here — Rodney gave us the coordinates to a world that’s not locked out of the system and with a bit of luck our people will be waiting there for us.” He paused, bitter from his loss but trying not to take it out on Mara. “Come with us.”
“But I thought we were going to try and save Admah first. My home, my friends, they’re all going to die and — ”
“And my friends are already dead!” he barked, and just saying it made it too true, too real. He took a breath, tamped down his rage. Later. There’d be time for that later. With effort, he kept his voice even. “Look, Teyla and Rodney were my friends,” he said. “They died because of this madness and there’s not a damn thing I can do about that. It’s too late for them, and it’s too late for the city. Rodney was Admah’s last hope, and now he’s gone.” He rubbed a hand across his face. “I’m sorry, we can’t help your people. But you? That’s another story. You can come with us. You can help us.”
Mara stared, eyes wide with fear but her face resolved. “I understand,” she said. “I’ll come with you. There’s nothing left for me here.”
“Then let’s go,” Ronon said. His voice was even, but just beneath the surface it trembled with barely controlled rage.
“Mara, show us how to get to the surface,” Sheppard said. “We’ll handle it from there.”
She nodded and together they slipped out into the passage, heading toward the main room and the halls beyond. On the screens all around, Saul began announcing the next battle. The crowd roared and the games continued unabated.
Chapter Twenty-nine
Lorne stepped into a pocket of lush jungle. The gate itself was clear, as was a circle about ten meters around it on all sides. Beyond this, plants and vines encroached, threatening to overrun the clearing and block off the rest of the world they’d entered.
“Move into the brush on the right,” Lorne directed. “Let’s get set up. We don’t know how long we’ll be waiting here, and I don’t want any surprises. As soon as we get the equipment up and going, send a report back to Woolsey. Verdino, Gravel, you’re with me.”
“Where are we going, sir?” Corporal Gravel asked.
She was a short, slender woman with long dark hair. She carried her weapon easily. Lorne had chosen this team himself, and he’d chosen Gravel for her intuition and an almost cat-like grace in battle.
“We’re going to check the perimeter,” Lorne said. “We won’t go far, but I don’t like the idea of not getting a look around. The way this place is overgrown suggests that there hasn’t been anyone around here for some time. Looks can be deceiving.”
“They could have let the jungle grow up just to camouflage the gate,” Verdino said.
“Exactly,” Lorne agreed. “Let’s move. We’ll keep in touch. See you all shortly. Meanwhile, keep your eyes open, get us entrenched, and let’s get ready to welcome Colonel Sheppard and his team back in style.”
The three plunged into the jungle, leaving the rest of the team to establish the base. They moved easily. Lorne took point, Gravel swept her gaze and weapon over the jungle to either side of the trail, and Verdino watched their rear, careful not to let anything or anyone slip around behind and cut them off from the gate.
Lorne passed through a particularly thick bank of ferns, and the undergrowth grew suddenly sparser. The ground sloped upward steeply. He raised a hand to slow the others and climbed the slope carefully. Insects buzzed around his face, but he ignored them. There was a
sound in the distance, a droning hum that rose slowly.
“I’ve got a bad feeling,” Lorne muttered, as he crept to the top of the ridge and peered over into the valley beyond. His feeling was right. In the distance, a Wraith Hive ship rested while all around it darts flew in and out. There was movement on the ground as well — it was obviously a community built around the ship.
Lorne watched for a few moments. He noted the roads and trails around the ship, specifically one that led in the direction of the gate. No one moved along it at that moment, but it was obviously intended to lead to the Stargate. Lorne slid slowly down the hill and gestured for the others to retreat. He held his silence until they were back beneath the cover of the trees and vines.
“We have a problem,” he said. “A big problem.”
He quickly informed Gravel and Verdino on the situation. Gravel reached for her radio but Lorne grabbed her hand and stopped her.
“We go back under radio silence. We also have to find a way to minimize reports to Atlantis. Anything we say could be detected or picked up by the Wraith. Opening and closing that gate is going to tip them off for sure, if it hasn’t already. If they find out we’re here, we won’t be able to hold out for long.”
“They must know the gate just activated,” Verdino frowned.
“Probably, but it’s possible they have regular traffic of their own. We’re going on the assumption they haven’t noticed us, and we’re going to lie as low as possible. We have to hold out long enough for Sheppard’s team to come through. We aren’t here to engage the enemy.”
“That’s a good thing,” Gravel said. “We’re good, but…”
Lorne shook his head and laughed. “Yeah, not that good. We’ll get back to the others before they dial Atlantis to check in. Last thing we want is a firefight. We’re here to bring people home safe, not offer up more casualties.”
They made their way quickly back through the jungle.
“The trail I saw would come in from the far side of the gate,” Lorne said, keeping his voice low. “We were just lucky choosing to move off to the right. We have to make use of the cover they’ve grown to hide the gate. If we use it to our advantage, we might be able to lay low long enough to remain undetected until Colonel Sheppard comes through.”
They hurried back through the jungle toward the gate. Verdino, still bringing up the rear, kept a careful watch on the jungle, and on the sky above, but there were no sign of Wraith, or darts.
* * *
On the hive ship, a Wraith warrior stood, staring up at the cliff where Lorne had lain only moments before. A flicker of light had caught his eye, and he was trying to focus across the distance and determine the source. There was nothing to see, but he glanced in the direction of the gate and frowned.
He turned and strode into the ship. He made his way through to the control room and stepped up to the main console.
His subordinate looked up from his work. “What is wrong?”
“I saw something out near the Stargate. It is probably nothing, but I want to check the logs.”
The screen lit up and his fingers danced over the controls easily. He stopped and stared at the screen for a moment, then spun quickly away.
“I want a patrol in the area of the Stargate immediately,” he said. “Send two darts.”
Moments later, the small ships shot out from the side of the hive ship and rolled, banking toward the gate.
“Who are you?” the Wraith mused softly. “And where did you come from?”
His answer was silence as he watched the darts disappear low over the jungle growth in the distance.
* * *
They heard the darts before they saw them.
“Get down,” Lorne called. “Stay low and whatever you do, maintain radio silence.”
The Wraith craft roared over the gate, one banking off to either side. They began maneuvering in a zigzag pattern over the trees and growth, searching for any sign of intruders. The team hunkered down and pressed back into the trunks of trees and beneath hanging vines. The darts came over again, and again, but eventually they shot off into the distance in the direction they’d come.
“We’re going to have to pull back further from the gate,” Lorne said softly. “If they’re checking the area, then someone has figured out that the gate was opened. They may not know for sure that anyone came through, but they’ll be watching, and they’ll be patrolling. We have to be vigilant, quiet, and patient.”
Verdino glanced in the direction of the darts. “What if they attack?”
“We could pull back to Atlantis,” Lorne said. “Probably. We ought to be able to activate the gate and get through it, but what then? If we retreat and Sheppard manages to get off that death trap moon and through the gate, he’ll just be walking into another death trap.”
“Just asking,” Verdino grinned. “I vote we fight.”
“I vote we try to stay out of sight and avoid trouble,” Gravel cut in. “We should be able to lay low for a few hours. If Rodney’s message is accurate, and Zelenka got it right, we shouldn’t have to be here too long.”
They all nodded, and then settled in. None of them was thinking about retreat, or safety. All of them, at one point or another, had worked with Colonel Sheppard, or Teyla, or even Ronon. They had come on this mission to bring that team home; that was what they’d do.
The eerie quiet of the jungle and the alien sky overhead had taken on an ominous aspect; they knew the Wraith were nearby. All they could do was to wait.
Chapter Thirty
Rodney shook his head, and immediately regretted it. He tried to sit up, and the room around him wavered. His head felt heavy…then his memory cleared, and he realized he was still wearing the helmet. The visor had popped open from the impact. He turned. There was still a break in the wall between him and the arena, but it flickered with an odd translucent light. Some kind of shield had been erected, and from the sound of the cheers and screams from the other side of that shield, the show had continued.
Moving more slowly, he rose. Nothing was broken, but that was no surprise. He reached under the armor and fingered the small device he wore around his neck. It was intact and Rodney grinned.
The room was dark. There were few lights, and in the shadowy interior he saw the detritus of battle scattered over the floor and piled against the walls. Racks of weapons lined one wall: swords, pistols, blades of all shape and size, as well as bows, crossbows, exo-skeletal suits, and armor. The variety was impressive, but it was obvious that in recent times whoever was in charge of maintenance and cleanliness had found a better use for their time.
Now the floor was also piled with the dead. The fallen creatures from the arena had been dragged in and left, some piled atop one another, the larger ones lying and stiffening on their own. Rodney saw, a few yards away, the carcass of the dragon. He stared at it for a long moment, trying to wrap his mind around the idea that he’d killed it.
The horse lay on one side a few feet away. It didn’t seem to have been harmed, but it was as silent and still as it had been the moment he first laid eyes on it. The lance lay nearby as well.
“Well,” Rodney said to no one in particular. “This is just swell.” He kicked at the handle of the lance and it skittered across the floor.
Rodney started a quick exploration of the room. He knew there had to be computer access and he knew he was going to have to find it and get into it quickly, or any chance of catching up to the others — assuming they’d gotten loose and were on their way to the gate — would be lost. He fumbled along the wall, cursing the dim light.
He worked his way around the carcass of the dragon, looking for anything that would add more light to the room. When he neared the racks of weapons, he almost laughed aloud. There was a control console tucked in beside the door, probably used for inventory of the weapons or diagnostics. The screen was lit and open. The dead dragon had prevented him from seeing it glowing in the semi-darkness. Whoever had last used it, they had no fear of
anyone in this room accessing the system.
Rodney hurried over and sat down. The first thing he did was check the arena. If one of the others was out there, he knew he’d have to find a way to help them before he moved on. He noticed that it was getting warmer in the room. His brow was coated in sweat, and he felt his shirt matting to his back.
He tapped at the keys, found the video feed, and brought up the arena. He saw two large creatures that resembled very large wolves squaring off with a woman. Only it wasn’t exactly a woman. She had two heads, and at least four arms, two of which held spears. Her eyes flashed, and she was actually smiling.
“Well,” Rodney said. “Good luck to you then.”
He closed the screen and began digging into the computer system in search of the DHD control system. He needed to know if the others had already opened the gate; without his equipment or his laptop, he didn’t know how long he’d been out. He found what he was looking for, tapped in codes from memory, and found his way to the gate.
It had not been accessed from the Admah side in a very long time. He was either going to be early, on time, or the only one who made it to the gate. Next he tapped into the security systems and found video feeds into the various holding cells outside the arena. He didn’t know the number of the one they’d been kept in, so he flipped through them one at a time. Most were empty. In a few, warriors of various stripes awaited. Each time he came to one of the cells, he opened it. He didn’t know if it would do any of them any good, but he thought evening the odds with Saul and his followers certainly couldn’t hurt.
After only a few moments he had opened all the cells, but one stood conspicuously open before he reached it. He hoped that meant the others had made it out, but at the same time, it added urgency to his own plight. He had to get out of this room and soon. If they came in with whoever lost the current battle, he’d be discovered. He needed to get out and up to the gate before he ended up trapped and fried with the good citizens of Admah.
He accessed the map of the city, found the arena, and quickly located the chamber he was in. There were only two exits. One led into the arena, and the other was directly across from that door, making it directly behind him. Rodney thought for a moment. As soon as he opened it, he was going to be setting off alarms. That was almost a certainty. Whether, in the heat of their entertainment, anyone would be monitoring for such a breach of security, or would do anything if they saw it, was a different question altogether. In the end, he settled for unlocking the doorway so that when he was ready to access it, it would open.
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