A.N: Ah…sorry for the delay, I'll try very hard to write faster. The rescue team that later shows up is the same one I made up in my first story but this story is NOT a sequel to it, I just decided to use that same team. Once again thanks for the reviews and to IguanaMom! Please review…
Chapter 4
Sheppard and his team searched the area surrounding the gate for any signs of where the two missing doctors could have gone. The rain pelted down on them during their fruitless search, John groaned in frustration. This wasn't supposed to happen; it was supposed to be an easy mission. He didn't know what he would do if anything happened to either of them, especially Carson, considering he had to basically drag him on this mission.
"Teyla, Lieutenant, find anything?"
Aiden shook his head no.
"No Major, the rain has washed away any signs of struggle or clues to where they have gone." Teyla remarked.
John hung his head a little; his earlier words to Carson about the mission were beginning to haunt him. This mission was turning into a disaster.
"John."
He looked up at Teyla.
"We will find them."
Unsure of what to say he simply nodded his head hoping she was right. The gate suddenly flared to life as the rescue team stepped through to meet the remaining members of Sheppard's soaked team. Sergeant Samuel Edwin led his team, which consisted of Corporal Tom Reynolds, Privates Alan Howell, and Kyle Goodrich, over to them.
"Major Sheppard," Samuel said.
"Sergeant," John looked down at his watch, "um…five minutes. You guys are pretty fast."
"Thank you sir."
"How much do you know of the situation?"
"Not much sir. We were only told to suit up and that we were needed for a rescue mission."
John nodded before explaining to the other team.
"We found some locals; they actually had been following us for sometime, and visited their village before being told to leave. They had some sort of ceremony they had to prepare for. We then made our way back to the stargate. Before we could make it back to the gate, we were attacked. I sent Teyla along with Doctors McKay and Beckett back to the gate while Lieutenant Ford and I held off our assailants. It worked for a while but they were followed by some of the hostiles. At some point Dr. Beckett was hit with some sort of dart and Teyla then sent Dr. McKay ahead with Dr. Beckett. By the time the rest of us were able to make it to the gate ourselves, the area was deserted. Soon we realized they never made it to Atlantis."
"Beckett and McKay are missing? I thought Dr. Beckett didn't travel off-world."
"He doesn't very often unless he is forced to."
"Any idea where they could have gone?"
"No, it's like they vanished without a trace."
"Major, might I suggest we go back to the village? There is a good chance they would know who attacked us," Teyla suggested.
"Good idea. Okay let's head back to the village."
John started forward with the other following behind until he stopped suddenly. John stood still, trying to concentrate. It was embarrassing that he didn't know, he should but he didn't remember. He just hoped they wouldn't notice.
"Major?" Aiden asked, concerned.
"Um…yes Lieutenant?"
"Are you okay sir."
"I'm fine. It's just that I don't…well…I should but…" he was going to have to tell them. "Hey Teyla do you remember how to get back to the village from here?"
"Yes," she said nodding, "It is this way."
"Not a word to McKay about this." he ordered them.
They nodded and then Teyla led them into the woods toward the village, where they would hopefully find their missing team members.
McKay and Beckett followed Sandor down the dark hallway in silence, lost in their thoughts, they soon stopped at a door. Rodney collided into Carson not realizing that they stopped, he would have sent them both to the floor if Sandor hadn't reached out to steady them.
"Careful there my friends. We would not want you to injury yourselves."
"Friends? I would hardly…" Rodney stated, before Carson interrupted him.
"Rodney!"
"It is fine. I understand the source of your anger. Once again my humblest apologies."
"Really, for some reason I find that hard to believe. Have you been drugged and kidnapped recently? Or how bout…OUCH!" Rodney exclaimed. He hopped on one foot in pain, due to the kick that a certain doctor gave him and then he sent his attacker a glare. "What was that for?"
Carson simply stared at him.
"Excuse me."
Both turned to Sandor.
"Ah…" he shifted uncomfortably under their stares before proceeding, "Doctor Beckett. My chief or what I believe you called a patient is right in this room."
He opened the door for them and ushered them in. The room before them contained a single window with a wooden table below it and numerous plants in decorated pots. In the center of the room lay the chief on a wooden bed, a young teen sat on the floor. Carson rushed over to the bed in full doctor mode, with the others following. The chief was a fairly young looking man. His eyes were closed and his face was contorted in pain. He was covered with woven blankets. Sandor tapped the man gently on the shoulder, waking him.
"Xerxes…"
He opened his eyes slowly and gazed at them.
"This is the healer I have told you about. He is here to save you." Sandor explained, pointing to Carson.
Xerxes just nodded slowly.
"May I?" asked Carson pointing to the blanket.
"Please." replied Sandor.
Carson carefully peeled the blankets back to reveal Xerxes' bloody chest. Blood seemed to ooze out of multiple wounds.
"I need some cloth fast," Carson said reaching into one of his vest pockets.
"Certainly," Sandor responded and turned to the teen on the floor, "Delano!"
The boy nodded and rushed out of the room. Carson shook his head sadly as he fished out some gauze. These people knew very little about medical attention. He needed to stop the bleeding before Xerxes got any worse. Placing the gauze over one of the wounds he pressed down, he grew more concerned when Xerxes didn't respond. Xerxes barely seemed aware; his eyes had a far away look in them.
Delano rushed back into the room carrying a pile of cloths.
"Here are the cloths." He presented them to Carson.
"Thank you lad."
"Lad?" he asked, but Carson was too busy trying to stop the bleeding to notice.
"Rodney I need your help. Come." Carson gestured for him to come help him.
"Carson. I don't…"
"You're my assistant for today and I need your help."
Taking one look at Carson's hard glare, Rodney nodded and hurried over to help. As he helped he tried to think of a way to get back at the Scottish doctor when they got back to Atlantis. Maybe there was some ancient device in his lab he could have Carson test out.
"Sandor, how did Xerxes come by these wounds?" Carson asked, never taking his eyes off his work.
"My home village and the other one, where I first met you both, have…"
He was interrupted by a knock on the door. They looked back and saw a young girl.
"Sandor, Ahriman wishes a word with you."
"Tell him I will be coming shortly."
She nodded and left the room then Sandor turned to the doctors.
"Once again my humblest apologies, there is a pressing matter I must attend to. I will leave you both to your work. Come Delano."
Within seconds Rodney and Carson were left alone with the unconscious chief.
"What's wrong?" Rodney asked.
Carson had a frown on his face. He sighed before answering, "They aren't telling us something. These wounds are not something one typically gets from falling."
They walked through the woods silently, noticing how quiet their surrounds seemed. The rain still persistently poured down on them, soaking through their uniforms. John was oblivious to it, he kept thinking about the dreaded situation. How did things come to this? He would not have even thought of the idea of bringing Carson with them if he knew something like this was going to happen. His team seemed to have the worst of luck with simple missions. Finally, before them the edge of the woods was near and the village was barely visible. Picking up their pace they hurried into the village. The once busy streets were empty, the curtains were drawn shut, doors were closed, and chimneys were free of smoke. The whole place looked deserted. They exchanged nervous looks with one another and drew out their weapons.
"Maybe everyone is in the building where the council was." John whispered.
They made their way over to the building, the silence all around them starting to feel ominous. Before they made it to their destination, a familiar person came out of the woods and hurried towards them.
"Major Sheppard what are you doing back? It is not safe for you to be here. You must return to your world," Uma said.
"We would like to but we're not leaving without Doctors McKay and Beckett."
A look of horror flashed on her face, "They are…are missing?"
"We believe they were taken."
Uma bent her head and covered her eyes with her hands. She mumbled into her hands to herself.
"Uma…" Teyla started to say before several figures came out of the woods carrying someone covered in blood.
Listening closer they could hear what sounded like a fight going on deep within the woods.
"Come we must go before they come closer. It is not safe to be out in the open. I will answer all your questions but we must get to safety first. Come!" she gestured with her hand for them to follow her.
She led them past the council's building toward a small shed. Opening the door she stepped in and pushed on the wall near the corner. Surprisingly it sprung back revealing a secret area. Instead of stepping in she kneeled down and opened a trapped door on the floor. Moving aside she gestured for them to go down, "Hurry!"
Peering down inside John saw a ladder leading somewhere unknown. The dirt below was lit lightly by something further within. He shrugged his shoulders before climbing down. The others followed him down into the whole and then Uma stepped in the secret room and shut the door. She started to climb down the ladder before stopping to pull the trap door closed.
The team was surprised to find a large underground room that was lit by candles. They looked around.
"Please have a seat." Uma gestured to the cushions on the floor.
They sat down, keeping a watchful eye on her.
"What's going on?" John asked, his eyes burning with frustration.
"I am humbly sorry but when you were here earlier we were not completely honest with you."
"What?"
Just then Talos appeared in the room, entering from a passageway behind the ladder.
"Uma why have you led the travelers down here?" he looked around at them before adding, "There are more of them now. It is not safe for them to be in our village. You must show them back to the gate of the ancestors and send them back to their world."
"Talos, I would but the risk is too great. The others are approaching, if they saw the travelers. Who knows what they would do?"
"Could someone please enlighten us to what on Earth is going on?"
"Earth?" Talos and Uma both asked very confused.
"I mean, what is going on?" John shook his head to himself; he needed to stop using Earth phrases while traveling off-world.
Uma swallowed and took a deep breath before answering. "Our village and the neighboring one have been at war for many years. I fear your doctors have been taken by the other village."