Chapter 3 – Sateda
When Sheppard, Teyla and Rodney came through on the other side, Ronon was standing a few feet from the gate, staring at the ruins that had once been his home town. It was a depressing sight. The remnants of formerly imposing buildings rose over a field of rubble. Everything was covered with a layer of fine grey dust.Teyla walked forward until she stood next to Ronon and laid a hand on his arm.
"You have made them pay for this," she said.
Ronon nodded. "And I will continue to do so," he growled.
With a visible effort he tore his eyes from the crumbling remains, and turned to his teammates.
"Temple is this way," he said, and began walking towards the former city.
The temple had been one of the most imposing buildings on Sateda. Maybe that's why the Wraith had put their best foot forward to demolish it. A large part of the domed roof had caved in at the back of the building. The outer walls were smudged with the black traces of energy weapon blasts, and the large bronze door had been blasted half off its hinges.
Rodney surveyed the damage with a critical eye. "I think the chances of retrieving anything from this building are approaching zero," he declared.
"Always the optimist," Sheppard snarked, then looked at Ronon. "What do you say, big guy?"
The Satedan was standing in the doorway, peering into the gloomy interior that was only illuminated by what little daylight came in through cracks in the rubble covering most of the gaping hole at the back of the hall. He was checking out an area to the right of the entrance.
"I'd say they're pretty good," he replied. "The crystals were stored in the vaults, together with the rest of the treasures of the temple. The entrance to them is a staircase over by that wall, and it seems intact from here."
"Okay," Sheppard decided, "let's check it out. I don't think this roof is gonna come down on our heads in the next like 30 minutes."
"Unless there's an earth tremor," Ronon told him, while he stepped over the remains of the door and disappeared inside the temple.
"Earth tremor?" McKay yelped nervously. "They have earthquakes here?"
Sheppard patted the scientist's shoulder. "No, he's just kidding." Then he stuck his head through the doorway. "You are kidding, Ronon, right?"
A loud crash was the only reply. Cursing under his breath, Sheppard entered the building, Teyla on his heels. After a moment's hesitation, McKay followed them.
The light beams from their P90s showed them that the damage beyond the entrance door was minimal in this part of the building. They picked their way through some scattered bits of masonry until they came to a hole in the ground with a staircase leading down. It had been blocked by a wooden gate, studded with bronze nails, but that now lay on the floor to the side, a splintered break running down its middle.
"Ronon?" Sheppard called down the stairs, but there was no reply.
"I should get a leash for him," grumbled John before he turned to Teyla and Rodney. "You stay here, keep your eyes, ears and com open. I'll check the status down there."
Sheppard had hardly set a foot on the first of the steps whose layer of grime had been disturbed by a set of bootprints, when there was another loud crash, and a cloud of dust billowed out of the hole. Taking a deep breath and holding it, his eyes screwed almost shut against the grit filling the air, John proceeded down the steps. When he reached the bottom, the dust was beginning to settle. Sheppard drew a careful breath and looked around. He was in a short corridor, its walls decorated with exotic figures and symbols in what must once have been vibrant colors. John brushed his hand over the picture of a sun, and found that under the coating of dust there was not a painting but a mosaic of tiniest stones, a work of art in all shades of yellow and gold.
A grunt and a clatter brought his attention to the end of the corridor. Another wooden door, similar to the one above, fell from its precarious position where it leaned against the wall, and crashed to the floor. Another cloud billowed up, and John could hear a deep cough coming from that direction.
Then Ronon appeared in the swirling mist of grit. He looked as if someone had dusted him thoroughly with confectionary sugar. Looking at the tormented face, Sheppard bit back the reproach that he had meant to throw at his teammate, and asked instead, "Are you all right?"
"Yeah," Ronon croaked, which caused another coughing fit. He held out his hand to Sheppard. On his palm lay one of the crystals Rodney had described. It was about the size of an ice cube, and when John aimed the light from his P90 at it, it really seemed to emit a shower of silvery sparks.
When they were back in the street, Teyla proceeded to brush as much dust as she could off the Satedan's body. Suddenly she stopped.
"You have cut yourself," she declared, pointing to a gash across Ronon's knuckles.
"I know," he replied. "There were some jars I had to move to get to the crystal. The board they were standing on must have been rotten, it collapsed, and I had to dig through the pieces of wood and shards of glass to find this." He pointed to the crystal that McKay was cradling in his hands. A shadow fell over Ronon's face. "It was the only one left. Somebody has totally ransacked this place. There's nothing of value left, no artefacts, no sacred implements, nothing."
Ronon winced as Teyla began to dab antiseptic onto his hand.
As usual totally oblivious to any undercurrents of emotion, McKay piped up.
"Oh, don't worry about it. This piece should suffice to make several dozens of these beaming devices." He dropped the crystal into his breast pocket, carefully closing the flap and buttoning it down securely. "So," he finally said, patting the spot where the stone now rested, "can we go already?"
Teyla opened her mouth to say something, but it was Ronon who replied.
"Sure," he said. "Let's go home."
