Part 2

They left the Puddle Jumper by the Stargate just outside the village, cloaked it and made their way towards the settlement on foot. Radek looked nervously around. He clenched the P90 to his chest, and fell into pace with John who was walking in front of him. It didn't take long before they arrived in the village where they were met by Logaian himself. He greeted all four of them in turn.

"Thank you for coming," he said. "We are grateful for your help."

"I'm not sure what we can do yet," John answered and shook Logaian's hand.

"What has happened has frightened many of our people," said the grey-haired man. "I am sure whatever help you offer will help soothe them."

John looked at him with a solemn look on his face. "Major Lorne told me what happened, but it would really help if we heard the story from you."

Logaian nodded and turned towards one of the bigger houses in the middle of the village.

"Come with me," he said.

They followed him inside and took their places around the big table in the middle of the hall. This house must be functioning as the village'shall of assemblies, Radek thought. The round shape of the table made him think of the legends of King Arthur, and the draperies on the walls did nothing to diminish the medieval vibes this place gave him. A woman came in through one of the side doors. She was carrying a tray with five cups on it, and soon she handed them out to Loagaian and his four guests. Radek smelled the contents of his cup. He could definitely distinguish the scent of spices. He stuck out his tongue to taste it, but quickly retrieved it when he realised that Logaian might find this rude. Instead he looked up, ready to concentrate on the dangers that he was sure lay ahead of him.

John started the conversation. "We heard from Major Lorne and his team that six of your people have gone missing," he said. "Any idea what might have happened to them?"

"Yes, actually I think I might have. It was yesterday morning that we noticed that they were gone. All six are prominent people in our society, and among the missing are several of our best scientists."

Radek lifted an eyebrow. This had gotten his interest. "Your best scientists?" he said in a low voice. "What would they want with them?"

Logaian sighed. "All of them were working on a new project," he said. "They had been trying to make some sort of defence mechanism."

"What sort of defence mechanism?" Ronon said in a husky voice.

"A protection from the Wraith," Logaian answered him. "Just like all the worlds around us, we have been victims of the Wraith for many generations, but we cannot afford to let it happen anymore. Too many lives are lost and our people are living in terror. So the Council decided that we had to come up with a solution to stop the Wraith cullings."

Radek looked over at Teyla. On her face he could read sympathy for the people living here. He knew that she had spent her whole life in terror, wondering when the Wraith might come next. He could not imagine having to live with such a fear hanging over him, having to wake up every morning and think that this might be your or one of you loved one's last day. Suddenly he felt very grateful for having grown up on Earth. It was no wonder why the people in the Pegasus galaxy were terrified, and he could also understand their anger. As he looked over at Ronon he could see the hatred in the big man's eyes at the mention of the Wraith. Radek knew that his whole family had been killed, and that Ronon for a long time thought that he was the sole survivor of Sateda.

The sound of John's voice yanked Radek out of his thoughts. "So who do you think took these scientists?" he asked.

Logaian shook his head. "I do not know. And no one in the village seems to know either. I cannot imagine that anyone here would inflict harm on anyone else, certainly not someone who is a part of their own community."

"Okay…" John said. "But has someone heard or seen anything out of the ordinary?"

Logaian looked gravely at him. "No one either heard or saw them coming. I am sure that this is the work of someone coming from the outside. They must have snuck into the village in the middle of the night, and they obviously must have known where they were going as well."

"What makes you say that?" Teyla asked.

"They knew exactly where to go. And it appears that nothing else has gone missing. All that disappeared were the scientists."

"Have there been any strangers here lately?" John asked with a contemplating look on his face.

Logaian nodded. "Yes, in fact a couple of nights ago a group of three rather rugged-looked men came to the village. They said they were traders and they spent the night at the inn. Maybe Boraia can you tell you more about them. She is the one who owns the inn, and the one who lent them their rooms."

"That sounds good," John said. "Let's talk to her right away. The faster we learn more about this situation, the faster we can find your men."

Radek understood that the meeting was coming to a close. He quickly finished his drink. It tasted sweet and he could recognise the taste of honey and spices. It reminded him of Medovina, a Czech-brewed mead, and it made him think of home. As the others got up from the table and walked outside, he followed them. Logaian showed them the way to the inn.

"Here we are," he said as they came to a halt outside the front door. "Boraia is inside. She will take good care of you."

"Thank you," John said. Then he made Logaian aware of Radek. "Radek here is also a scientist. Maybe he could be shown what your scientists were working on. That could give us a clue as to what happened."

"Of course," Logaian answered. "I will see to it that it is arranged."

With that he left the group.

Radek looked nervously at John. "I don't really know what I can do," he said, as honest as ever.

John sent him a comforting smile. "Just check it out, Doc. Ronon will go with you. See if you can understand this mechanism and maybe we can get some clues as to why these people were kidnapped."

Ten minutes later Radek and Ronon were shown the lab. Radek could feel his fascination rising as he walked around, looking at the research in front of him. These scientists had definitely been on to something. The defence mechanism was clearly in progress and not very advanced, but for a pre-industrial society their research had come a long way, Radek thought to himself. Still nothing he found here could give him a clue as to why the scientists had disappeared. Even if the Wraith had heard news of what they were working on, they would not simply kidnap the people responsible for it. That he was sure of.

He looked up at Ronon. "We better get back to them," he said. "There's nothing to be found here."

Teyla and John were talking to some of the villagers when Ronon and Radek walked over to them.

John looked at Radek. "Did you find anything?"

Radek shook his head. "No, not really. You?"

John gestured towards the inn. "She told us that there were three of them, just as Logaian said. Apparently they left after the first night, but no one actually saw them go through the Stargate. I've asked some of the locals if there are any hiding places around here and many of them say that there are some cabins in the woods. Their ancestors used them as hunting lodges. They haven't been used in a long time, though. If we're lucky we might find them in one of those cabins," John said and pointed towards the woods. "We just have to go in there."

Radek's eyes widened as he looked in the direction John was pointing. The trees looked to be forming a barrier around the village. It looked dark and unfriendly on the other side of it.

"Of course," he mumbled to himself. "We just have to go in there."

He could see that John was trying to a hide a grin as they made their way towards the forest in front of them.

"Check your radioes," the Colonel said. "We'll split up, and maybe we'll have better luck finding them that way. Ronon, you stay with Radek. Teyla, come with me."

With that John and Teyla started walking. Ronon did the same, but he took the opposite direction. Radek almost had to run to keep up with him. When he had almost caught up, Ronan suddenly stopped. The Czech saw it too late and bumped into him.

"Oh, sorry," Radek whispered.

Ronon put a finger over his lips and pointed towards the ground. Radek understood that he probably had found something. Maybe it was some tracks that could help them find the missing people, he thought. Slowly, the Satedan started walking again, his eyes directed towards the ground. Radek followed him, his heart pounding in his chest. He looked around. The trees seemed to stand closer together here and they grew bigger and bigger the farther into the forest they came. Suddenly Radek thought he saw something in the corner of his eye. A shadow of some kind. Quickly he turned his head to see if he could get a clear look at whatever it was, but he couldn't see anything. Radek turned around to alert Ronon, but in front of him were only trees. He could not see the man anywhere.

"Ronon?" Radek whispered, feeling the panic starting to take hold of him.

He got no answer, but decided not to shout as he didn't want to draw any unwanted attention. Instead he started running in the direction he thought the Satedan might have gone.

Suddenly he felt the ground disappear beneath his feet and he was falling. It all happened so fast that he didn't have time to think. He could feel a throbbing pain spread through his body and then it all turned black.

TBC