Winners And Survivors
Part Two
It was nothing on which she could put her finger, no reason for her to feel that this was a mistake.
Her team were, by all accounts, quite successful.
Rodney had configured the life-signs detector, and it showed at least one person with the Ancient gene placed unmoving in one of the central rooms of Ronon's headquarters. With some careful planning by Captain Kilmer, and keeping in mind the structure and cross-structure of the city, Teyla's team had boxed Ronon's team into his headquarters.
Now, according to Captain Kilmer, it was merely a case of picking them off until there was time and space to take the fort.
Teyla thought they were succeeding. This small group, originally of eighteen, now reduced to twelve, had held this corridor for the last twenty minutes, carefully counting the number of opponents as they were reduced one by one.
It was a risk to be out here, but she owed it to her people. Laura had argued about her vulnerability. Teyla had pointed out the change in rules. Their sole objective was no longer the original intentions laid out this morning; she intended to go after Ronon herself. To do so, she must be in a position to take advantage if it was presented.
And advantage was rarely presented from behind.
Still, as Teyla set her shoulder against the wall and waited for the break in intar fire that would give this group an opportunity to restart their offensive, the wrongness of the situation jarred her.
Dr. Beckett had once suggested that what he considered her extraordinary skill at fighting was an extension of her ability to sense the Wraith. "You're not telepathic, I think, but your sense of people is what gives you the edge in a fight."
As she listened to the fire up and down the corridor, Teyla did not know about her 'sense of people'. She did know that things were not right - that this course of action was not gaining her team any advantage. It was not something she could prove, had Rodney required a reason for it, but she knew it was so.
She tapped her headset on. "Captain?"
"I-7 is clear, ma'am. They've retreated and we're holding it. Headcount stands at fifteen, not including injuries."
Teyla was impressed. So far, the group under direct command of the captain had suffered the least 'casualties'. "Are there any captures?"
"None, ma'am. Sergeant Donovan said something about one of the rooms along this corridor 'leaking' into another."
"Leaking?"
Sergeant Donovan provided the explanation in Captain Kilmer's background. Apparently, during the storm, that section of the city had sustained damage, to the point where the integrity of some of the walls had given way. There was no reason to repair them, so the damage had remained. And the gaps were large enough for people to slip through and escape.
"Ma'am, I'll need two from each of the other groups to help hold the corridor while we press forward." It was not a request, but neither was it quite a demand.
"I will ask for volunteers," she said, nodding at one of the technically-minded sergeants, who started contacting the others of their team. "If they are hard-pressed, then there may not be personnel spare among the attacking groups--"
"If we don't hold this corridor, then anyone in Dex's group with the faintest particle of strategy in their training is going to double-back and cut us off, ma'am."
Teyla waited a moment for the sergeant to take the report from the others and give her the response - a shake of the head. "We lack the personnel to spare you from those pressing the attack," she said. "However, Lieutenant Cadman has just reported that there are personnel whose tasks are completed, who have little to do."
"Those guards are needed at--" Captain Kilmer broke off. "You want me to take scientists into a war zone, ma'am?"
The term 'scientists' did not wholly encompass the skills of the personnel in question. A handful were military - if not commonly 'in the field'. "They are weapons-competent, captain."
"Ma'am, if those civilians are weapons-competent then I'm the Queen of Sheba!"
The sergeant communicating with the other groups snorted and muttered, "He'd better find a coronet, then. At least two of the scientists coming in were born and bred on a ranch. I wouldn't want to face them down the barrel of a gun. And, ma'am, the other groups report that they're wedged or without the spare personnel. He's going to get scientists or nothing."
Teyla nodded. On one hand, she regretted what she was about to say. On the other, the captain seemed oddly belligerent about this issue. "Captain, there are presently no personnel to assist you but those I have suggested. You will receive weapons-competent support, if not military-trained. If you have concerns over their tactical skills, then perhaps they might be partnered with someone in your group who possesses those skills."
On the other end of the channel, silence lingered. Then, "Yes, ma'am." And there was a bite to the words sharp enough to make those around Teyla blink in surprise.
She did not comment on it. "Have you seen any sign of Ronon?"
"No, ma'am."
Teyla nodded, almost to herself. "Thank you."
The communications sergeant regarded her as she terminated the call and stood. "Ma'am?"
Air was cool and refreshing in her lungs as she inhaled deep. "Something is not right," she said. "Please call in to the other two groups and ask if they have seen or heard Ronon since we began this attack."
With a quick, querying gaze, the sergeant did so, snapping out words in a manner that was brisk but not unkind. "Negative, ma'am."
As Teyla had thought. "I am returning to headquarters," she said. "Captain Kilmer will continue to oversee this operation."
She saw the quick glances exchanged between them, knew that they were wondering what had changed. But the sergeant only said, "Yes, ma'am."
As she ran through the corridors, she kept an eye out for any sign that Ronon's patrols might have eluded Captain Kilmer's group and switched to a channel that Dr. Bedner had encoded for this exercise. "Laura?"
"Teyla? How's the siege going?"
"It goes well."
"But?"
"But there is no sign of Ronon."
"Maybe he's hiding?"
Teyla shook her head, once again forgetting that her conversation partner could not see her. "Ronon does not like inaction. When patience is required, he will exercise it. But if it is not, he will be in the fray." Seven years had ingrained movement into Ronon's habits, as if he had not been a man of motion in the first place.
"You think he's got Sheppard holed up somewhere else?"
"That is what I would like to know." Teyla moved through the corridors, turning once when she saw a shadow of movement. It was only a scientist - one of those who had chosen to stay out of the conflict - and she turned back. "These devices we wear for communication - Rodney has explained a little of it--"
"He condescended to tell you?"
"It was very condescending," Teyla said, smiling. "But what he said... There is something that...indicates not only what is being said into the device, but also who should receive the words?"
"A new way of describing it," Laura said, "But yeah, that's the gist of it. The comms send out signals: both the signals that make up our words and signals about the messages being sent, including which device the message is meant--" She stopped in what Teyla supposed was astonishment. "You want us to triangulate Ronon's position based on the transmission from his headset?"
Teyla had no idea what 'triangulating' was, but she guessed that Laura had realised her intent. "If you mean that I wish to find where Ronon is, then, yes."
"Wow." Laura paused. "That's... That might be a workable idea. Hang on. I know a bit about the systems, but not half as much about these comms devices as other people around here. Let me go grab one of them."
By the time Teyla had reached the designated headquarters of her team, there were four people clustered around one of the desks, gabbling at each other in incomprehensible terms. She looked to Laura to see if the other woman understood.
"It's confusing me, too," Laura admitted. "And I'm good with computers. Just not this good! Although don't ever tell Rodney I said that!"
Teyla felt laughter well up within her. "It is not your specialty," she pointed out. "So, you believe the idea might work?"
"Oh, it'll work," said one of the techs, glancing up from his computer with gleeful enthusiasm. "We're going to have to make some modifications to one of the headsets, though, stripping out the message signal and leaving the metadata behind. Then we'll need to send a signal that will make his headset send back a signal that the transmitters in the city can pick up, and with a bit of adjustment, the transmitters will let us know exactly where he's holed up." The guy paused at the end of his stream of speech, looking a little embarrassed. "You didn't understand a word I just said, did you?"
This time the laughter bubbled out, too strong for her to suppress. "I understood that you can locate Ronon, Dr. Metcalfe. That is all I wished to know."
"Right." The scientist - he could not be much older than she - ran a hand through his hair, his face and ears pink with embarrassment. "Uh, so, we'll have that, uh, for you...well, hopefully in the next, uh, hour, Ms. Emmagen."
"Just Teyla," she told him. "And thank you." She made sure that her gaze encompassed all four technicians so Dr. Metcalfe was not unduly embarrassed
They shrugged off her thanks and went to work.
Several hours was longer than Teyla liked. It was midafternoon, tending towards sunset, and the day was mostly gone. They would have some time after the sun set - the game was to play out until the rise of the moon, a little while into the night - but not as much as she liked. The original plan had been for Colonel Sheppard to call the game to a stop, but with his capture, it would most likely be Major Lorne who determined the ending.
Ronon had not stuck to the original plan.
Exasperation rose, mingled with admiration. She understood his irritation with the game - the fight against the Wraith was not anything they had ever taken lightly - but she would not have reacted as he had.
It had, however, made things interesting. So perhaps she would forgive him.
Perhaps she would outclass him instead.
In the meantime, she still had a campaign to oversee and people to manage.
Captain Kilmer reported steady progress, and if he occasionally sounded annoyed to Teyla's ears, she did not comment on it, but encouraged his progress. Fractious scientists quibbled and squabbled, and Teyla gently drew out their anger until they were ready to return to work.
And nearly an hour later, Dr. Bedner brought the news that they'd succeeded in reaching the server Rodney had assigned them to hack. She brought her laptop over to show Teyla and Laura.
Dr. Bedner and her team had been busy. As well as breaking into the computer, they had put together a design for a computer site. "The idea in hacking," Dr. Bedner explained, "is to go into a set location and...cause mischief. In some cases, it involves changing the site details, setting the server to redirect elsewhere, or just bringing down the system. In this case, there's a website attached to the server we hacked, and we're going to replace the site McKay designed with our own." She sounded gleeful as she showed the design. "Ta-da!"
Teyla took one look and laughed.
Macandrian hamali decorated the background, an image repeated over and over, while little spinning cross-sections of lemon formed the markers beside the various groups of words. In one corner of the screen, a hamali sprouted legs and arms and waved them about in a bizarre little dance, while in the other corner, a lemon - similarly limbed - mirrored the hamali.
"It is...most decorative," she said, smiling.
"And guaranteed to send McKay into spasms," Laura added.
"Not much of a challenge," Dr. Bedner murmured, grinning at her work. "We decided to layer the changes - we'll put our change on the bottom, do a bit of creative timestamping so it's the backup, then put a copy of the original page on top. Unless McKay goes in to check the actual server, he won't notice it's not there and we'll leave a trojan on his server to pick up the 'backup' files a little while after sunset. Voila!"
"Well done," Teyla told the scientist. "And thank you."
The woman grinned. "We get a win out of this, too, you know."
"Uh, Ma'a-- Ms. Emmage-- Er. T--Teyla?"
"Dr. Metcalfe?"
"The modifications are done." Dr. Metcalfe scrubbed a hand through his hair, spiking it even further. "We sent out a test signal and we've managed to triangulate Dex's headset. You're right. He's nowhere near where we thought he was."
Teyla nodded. "You are sure?"
"We triangulated Sheppard's headset, too," added another of the scientists. "Same location. Or within five metres, give or take."
"Show me." She indicated the screen, and Dr. Metcalfe transferred the data to whatever device controlled the screen.
"Here's Dex's signal." The pulsing dot was in the middle of the screen, and a moment later another appeared close by. "That's Colonel Sheppard's. In the broader scheme of things..." The view drew back, showing several wings of the city and Dr. Metcalfe pointed at one side of the screen. "Here's the section of the city Kilmer's been trying to take."
There was significant distance between the two areas. "That's a pretty impressive decoy," Laura commented.
"Dex is a pretty impressive guy," Dr. Bedner said.
Teyla pressed her lips into a line, trying not to smile at the faint innuendo of the programmer. "It was a successful ploy," she said, acknowledging that.
"But why take him at lunch, then? Why not at dinner? I mean, holding onto someone for eight hours is more difficult than holding them for, say, three."
Instinct answered, "Opportunity. There was opportunity and Ronon took it." That was like her team-mate; to recognise a moment and seize it when it was presented.
"Guess Atlantis taught him a few things," said someone else.
"Oh, I don't know," Laura commented. "Dex wasn't a completely ignorant savage before Atlantis took him in and straightened him out."
Teyla's mouth twitched at the other woman's deadpan tones, but didn't join in as one of the technicians began arguing the degree of influence Atlantis had exerted on Ronon - or on her. She was too busy trying to envision the rooms where Ronon held his captive.
It was difficult. Atlantis was built in repeating patterns, the design of the rooms echoing each other in size and form. She recalled a conversation - or lecture - from one of the scientists regarding the design of the city back in the earliest days of her time in the city. Teyla remembered the lecture as much for what the scientist had said as for what she learned not to mention around people whose verbal tendencies were as endless as the flow of the river out of the mountains in the spring.
Dr. Metcalfe came alongside her. "You're really going to try this rescue thing?"
"I should at least attempt it," she said, smiling, before quoting one of her uncle's sayings. "'There is no gain in making no effort.'"
The scientist ran a hand through his hair. "Hm. Well," he murmured, "that's the south-western corridors - the I5..." He glanced sideways. "It's a highway - a path for cars - our 'jumpers--"
Teyla interrupted him, striving to keep the impatience from her voice. "I have seen pictures. I am aware of the names given the thoroughfares through the city."
"Yes. Of course." He went a little pink. "Um. Well, the south-western wing of the city is pretty much mirrored by the I25 - the western wing."
"And there is a connecting corridor close by," Teyla said with dawning understanding. She looked from the screen to him, pleased. "Well thought of, Doctor."
He mumbled something about it being no trouble, and Lieutenant Cadman broke away from her argument with the other technician. "Teyla?"
Teyla smiled. "I have an idea."
- TBC -
