Sateda
by Jennifer Lynch
Disclaimer:
As always, I do not own any of these characters save for my original character, Teagan. I do not make any money off my stories and really wish these ideas would stop coming to me so I could write something original and perhaps make some money from my stories!! But enough of that. Hope you enjoy reading something I enjoyed writing. Would LOVE feedback!
This story is set in season 4 since I have not seen season 5 (ya, I'm a little pissy about it!). Before "Missing" so Teyla is not yet pregnant and Col. Carter is still somewhat new. It is long before "Quarantine" but I have paired Ronon with Dr. Keller to fit the story.
Dr. Keller walks into Col. Carter's office in full gear, ready to go off-world.
"OK, I'm ready. What's the medical emergency?" she asks col. Carter. The SGA1 team are already there and ready to go.
"I was just telling Col. Sheppard's team the Athosians contacted us. On of them was hurt during an altercation with a thief from another planet. I haven't got all the details as they said they needed medical attention stat. They said to bring arctic weather clothing and a doctor and they'll explain the rest when you get there. You have a go." said Sam..
They all head down to the gate, encumbered with gear as the gate is activated and they walk through to New Athos thinking this is just another mission. Teyla's friend, Kanaan greats them immediately.
"Finally! Please, follow me." He says as he rushes them back to the village. In one of the buildings lies a man writhing in pain. Dr. Keller immediately starts examining him. He is sweating profusely and delirious.
"Someone tell me what happened." she says as she works.
"We saw someone in a thick jacket leave through the gate with an armful of our vegetables. When we went back to the garden we found Sirac lying unconscious. He must have surprised the intruder and tried to stop him."
There's no visible wound. It could be some sort of poison but I don't see any puncture marks either. I'll do some blood work but we need to talk to whoever did this and find out what sort of weapon was used." Dr. Keller suggests.
"We think we know where he came from. Recently we found a... winter planet. It's very cold but rich with a type of deer, I think you'd call it. The attacker was wearing winter clothing. He could've followed us back. That's why we told Col. Carter to bring winter gear. Tyr will take you." Kanaan offers.
"Let's go." says Sheppard, happy to be able to do something and get away from the moaning! Of course, Dr. Keller wants to stay with her patient.
Once through the gate they are glad to have warm clothing. It's bitter cold. How cold? Hard to say because McKay tries to use his gadgets to get any sort of reading but to no avail. He is immediately alarmed.
"EVERYBODY STOP!!!!" He screams as he fools with his 'tricorder'. He hits it a couple of times. The wind whips everyone's hoods off their heads and they scramble to put them back up. It may be cold and windy but at least it's not snowing. Although with that much wind it FEELS like it is.
"Let's go, McKay! Which way?!" Sheppard yells through the wind.
"I don't know!" he yells back, nervous. "I can't get a reading! It's dead!" Ronon snorts and starts looking around for tracks. McKay keeps trying other devices. "They're all dead! Even my watch! There must be a jamming device on this planet!" Ronon comes back from scouting around.
"No tracks. No smoke from a fire that I can see in this wind." He looks around. "If I lived here I'd be over there, in a cave in those low mountains."
"Let's go." says Sheppard, heading to the mountains. He knows to trust Ronon's instincts.
"But we don't even know if that's the right way!" cries the ever pessimistic McKay.
"You got a better idea?" Sheppard retorts as they all start walking, leaving him in the rear. McKay falls in line without another word, just a groan. After about half an hour the terrain changes from rocky and uneven snow to flat. Obviously a frozen lake. They start crossing with Ronon leading, listening to the cracks as they go. They are all starting to feel a little nervous. They are almost to the other side when Sheppard and Teyla fall through, splashing into the freezing waters. Ronon starts to run back to his friends when he hears,
"STOP!" A female voice from out of the snow. Everyone stops as 'someone' runs past Ronon and slides along the ice with a long stick and helps Teyla and Sheppard out of the frigid water. "Stay on your stomach and crawl over to your friend. YOU!!" she yells to McKay and Tyr. "The ice is safe to your left 200 meters! GO!" They don't need to be told twice. They head towards safety. The girl helps Teyla off the ice as Ronon helps Sheppard. Their clothes turning to hard and heavy ice in seconds. "this way!" she advises them to follow her as she continues to help Teyla. Within 10 minutes they reach a cave which shelters them from the cold and wind. Inside a small fire is crackling and the girl helps Teyla find a seat near it as Ronon does the same for Sheppard. The girl goes to the back of the cave and grabs some dry warm clothes and some blankets.
"You'll need to get those wet clothes off before hypothermia sets in." She hands them the clothes as Teyla and Sheppard shiver. She holds up the blanket and looks at Teyla. "You can change behind here." Teyla looks at her with a strange expression as she gets up. "I know. I feel it too." She says as Teyla takes the clothes and goes behind the blanket.
Meanwhile Ronon looks at Sheppard and sarcastically asks if Sheppard would like him to hold the blanket for him as well. Sheppard makes do. Tyr and McKay walk in at this point.
"Thank God! A fire!" says McKay.
"We're fine. Thanks for asking, McKay." says Sheppard in his special way (sarcasm of course).
"Well, obviously." says McKay. The girl's back is to them as she holds the blanket to shield Teyla. Once Teyla is dressed she lowers the blanket and turns around, lowering her hood. Her long red hair is neatly tucked in a braid. She's stunning, of course. The men all stare, much to Teyla's amusement. "Oh... I'm assuming this is our attacker?" Rodney smiles.
"Attacker?" she asks. She looks questioningly at Teyla.
"Were you recently on another planet? Perhaps taking vegetables that did not belong to you?" Teyla asked as nicely as she could. Sheppard and Ronon were confused at why the two girls seemed at ease with each other, almost like childhood friends.
"Yes. A group of hunters came through the circle and killed one of my deer. So I followed them back to their planet. I watched them for a short time and decided they were a fair people so I didn't retaliate. But I wanted a fair trade. I don't get much vegetables so they're worth a lot to me. By then I didn't have enough time to find someone and negotiate so, yes, I took what I thought was fair. I couldn't stay any longer without endangering them so I tried to leave.."
"Wait a minute. "You could tell they were fair'?, 'you didn't have time'?, 'endanger them'? This doesn't add up." Sheppard added in his wonderful sarcastic way, even when shivering.
"The Wraith put a tracking device in my neck years ago. It doesn't seem to work on this planet but when I go to an inhabited planet I don't like to be gone more than an hour."
"You're a runner. We can help you with that. But what did you do to Sirac? He's in a lot of pain." says Sheppard. Teagan looks confused. Then realizes what must have happened.
"A man grabbed me from behind and I flipped him over and ran. I'm sorry, I didn't know he was hurt. Sounds like he brushed up against my arrows." She grabbed her backpack and took out an arrow. " I use the venom from a snake on the tips. It kills a deer almost instantly when it penetrates the skin. But if rubbed on the skin it can cause a great deal of pain, speaking from experience. He must have rubbed against one when he grabbed me." She went to the back of the cave. She was well organized with meat hanging from strings from the ceiling, water in skin sacks and boiling in a pot over the fire, and skins all over. She had obviously been here a while. She came back with a small metal container. "This is the anti-venom. Rub a teaspoon of it on his skin and he should be fine within 24 hours." She hands it to Sheppard who almost drops it in his shivering hands. "My clothes are too small for you and aren't keeping you warm. You should go. I'll show you the safe way back to the circle." she offers.
"WAIT!" yells McKay. Everyone looks at him, making him uncomfortable. "Uh... well, I'd like to stay and figure out why electrical devices don't work here. Whether it's the atmosphere, a a a shield, something in the earth, or..."
"McKay, you can come back with Dr. Keller when she comes to help..." he looks at the girl, "I don't even know your name."
She smiles. "Teagan."
"When Dr. Keller comes back to help Teagan, here."
"But..." McKay starts to protest.
"I will stay." both Teyla and Ronon say together. They look at each other, Teyla with amusement and Ronon with antagonism. Sheppard looks at them both with exasperation.
"Aren't you cold?" he asks Teyla.
"Teagan's clothes fit me much better than they fit you and I am quite comfortable. Besides," she pauses, "I sense...something."
"Wraith?" asks Sheppard getting concerned.
"No. I do not know. But she does." Teyla looks at Teagan. Teagan smiles and nods knowingly.
"I sense you too. So who am I taking back to the circle?" Teagan asks.
"You can stay here. Just tell Ronon the way. He'll get us back." Ronon gives Sheppard the 'I told you I wanted to stay here' look. "Teyla has a better reason for staying than the 'I like the pretty girl' reason!" Sheppard smirks at Ronon. "Besides, we'll be back with ," Sheppard emphasis to Ronon, knowing they were dating, "as soon as Sirac is feeling better. I'll radio Atlantis and explain our circumstances and be back in... say 30-36 hours."
"In 40 hours it will be dark here and not safe to travel." Teagan advises.
"Noted."
"I can see the circle activate from here. We will be watching."
Ronon, Sheppard and the Athosian leave, one rather reluctantly. Teyla thought it was funny how taken he seemed with Teagan. She had never seen this side of him before, even with Jennifer. After they've gone a little ways Ronon turns to Sheppard.
"You should've let me stay. I'm better protection. For McKay, of course." Ronon grins.
"Yeah right. If I weren't so cold I would've stayed and sent you all back!" they laugh. Sheppard gives Ronon a look. "I'm surprised at you, though. I thought you and the cure doctor were hot and heavy."
Ronon looks questioning at him. "Hot and heavy? We're just dating."
"Right. Dating." They keep walking in silence.
Back in the cave, Teagan comes back to the fire after watching the three men go through the 'circle', as she calls the Stargate.
"So you can't read my thoughts?" she asks Teyla.
"What?!" asks McKay. The girls don't even look at him.
"No," says Teyla, "Just ...emotions. You?"
"Some images, feelings. I knew your name when you came through the gate. But I am confused as to where you're from."
Teyla smiles. "I am Athosian. It is my people you met with the garden. But I now live on Atlantis with people from Earth. And you?"
"I am from a planet called Sateda." Teagan said, assuming they would never have heard of it.
"What?!" again McKay, although Teyla is equally as surprised.
"My planet was culled by the Wraith many years ago. You've heard of it?" Now she's surprised.
"Yes, it was culled about 9 years ago. Ronon is from Sateda." says McKay.
"So others survive?!" Teagan is elated.
"Yes. Now you know. So can we look into why technological devices don't work here now? I didn't stay on this Godforsaken planet to talk about Sateda, you know." Typical Rodney. "I'll need some help taking samples. Maybe you can tell me more about this planet as we work. Sateda is old news." McKay hands Teagan her coat. Hint hint. Teyla smiles and grabs a coat as they all head out into the cold.
As they collect samples of rock, snow, even air, Teagan talks about what she's learned of the planet since she's been there. She found it by accident while running from the Wraith. They followed her here but the Darts fell into the icy water, useless and their tracking equipment obviously wouldn't work. They tried to find her for many years but she always eluded them. Like Teyla, she can sense Wraith. Eventually the Wraith stopped coming. She didn't know why technology didn't work here and didn't really care. It was what kept her here because it certainly wasn't the great beaches. The deer kept her fed and she went off world once in a while for other necessities.
By the time Dr. Keller, Ronon and Sheppard come back through the gate, McKay and Teyla know a lot more about Teagan. As Dr. Keller puts Teagan under anesthetic to remove her tracking device, Ronon is trying hard not to show interest in the red haired beauty, especially in front of his not-girlfriend. Teyla, not used to seeing Ronon act this way, mistakes his feelings.
"Ronon, you have no reason to fear her. She is also from Sateda." Teyla advises, hoping to alleviate his trepidation. Instead Ronon's mood changes from interest to hatred.
"Monarch! We should leave NOW! Before she wakes up." Ronon advises, pacing.
"Ronon, calm down, please. You're making it difficult for me to work." says Dr. Keller.
"She's dangerous!" he pushes.
"Ronon, I can sense her feelings and I have sensed no negative feelings from her. I cannot believe she is dangerous to us." said Teyla confused at his words. Ronon could see no one would listen and didn't wish to explain, being a man of few words, so he left the cave, knocking over anything in his path. McKay, Dr. Keller, Sheppard and Teyla all look at each other in wonder. What the hell? Sheppard goes after him. Dr. Keller finishes her operation and then also goes to find her not-boyfriend. Teyla wakes up soon after, groggy and Teyla is sitting beside her. She holds her hand and lets Teagan know she no longer has a tracking device and is free. She feels Teagan's relief as if it is her own. Teagan asks about Dr. Keller and Teyla advises she has gone to check on Ronon.
"He got all upset when we told him you were from Sateda too." says astonished McKay.
Teagan sits up and touches the back of her neck gingerly. She's never been free before. Not even before the Wraith. "he hasn't told you much about Satedan history, has he?" No. Teagan explains that there are (were) two major continents on Sateda, north and south. The stargate is in the south where Ronon must be from. She is from the north. Over 200 years ago her great great-grandfather was the first king of the northern continent. The first Monarchy. But he was a power hungry despot who used his ability to control the Wraith to scare his people into submission. He was a redhead who believed that the gene for this ability was linked to red hair so he married a redhead and killed any of his children who didn't have red hair. His children could only marry red heads. The south thought he was tyrannical and war ensued. But somehow he seemed to know what the south would do before they did it and so he rarely lost a battle. Southerners thought he could read minds, a rumor the king himself started to instill fear. North and South had not spoken in 150 years. Southerners called most redheads 'Monarchs' as there were few in the south and it became almost a swear word. If you really wanted to insult someone in the south, you call them a 'Monarch'. Teagan's parents were not as tyrannical and had made many changes. They promised to protect their people without slavery, without drafting people into the military, without killing non red haired children. They had high hopes for change. Then the Wraith came. In the past Teagan's ancestors were able to keep the culling to a minimum by using their mind control to persuade the Wraith that there was nothing worth culling in the north. There were enough Monarch's to control and, if necessary, kill any Wraith that came north. But this time there were few Monarch's with the gift and too many Wraith and they were vastly outnumbered. But that was, what, 9 or 10 years ago now and she had almost forgotten all the politics and policies of her previous life. Ronon had not. She was everything he had been taught to hate.
"But that is the past." She gets up groggily and starts gathering her things. "And now I have a better future, thanks to your doctor. I have no desire to return to Sateda but I'm sure I can find a warmer planet to call home."
"No!" remarks McKay. Both girls look at him. "I mean... you should come with us where you could be... better utilized." Rodney has never been good around women. Teyla smiles.
"What Rodney is trying to say is your talents would be put to good use in Atlantis. If Col. Carter agrees, of course."
"Yes, of course." says Rodney, trying not to look uncomfortable. They pack up her things and find the others before they head to the gate. Teagan asks to go to New Athos first so she could apologize to the Athosians and donate her things so they could continue to hunt. Once there she also advises them on what to avoid, where the poisonous snakes like to live, and the habits of the deer herd. She promises to come back when she can and show them the safest passages and give them more information on seasonal changes. But SGA1 was getting antsy and Ronon in particular wanted to get back to Atlantis.