Chapter Seven – For They Have Taken What is Holy
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Keller glanced at her wristwatch; it read 11 AM. Three days had passed since they'd gotten back from the planet and she still hadn't started to work on her report. She tried to convince herself that it was logical since she hadn't had the time. It had been enough to update the medical records and take care of SGA-1.
However, in reality, that was only two minor things that kept her from it. The biggest problem was the fear of reliving the events. Sometimes she wished Carson hadn't left to live with the people of the Pegasus galaxy. She needed him badly at times, needed his experience.
Jennifer sighed, she was happy to be able to release Ronon today. Unfortunately the rest of them didn't like the idea of staying put. Rodney claimed to have a lot to do in his lab. Claimed he needed access to the database in order to find out more about the Ancient underground system that they had fallen into. Teyla wanted to leave and spend time with her people and try to explain what had happened with the Acclosian people. John had argued that he was fine and needed to stretch his legs.
She sat down at her desk and picked up the photography of her and father. It had been taken the day she graduated. She remembered that everyone had been smiling on the party and that they'd all had a great time. Little did she know then that her application for work at the Stargate Command would forever change her life. She sighed and reached for her computer. It was time to face her fear.
ATLANTIS MISSION REPORT ARCHIVE
P3X-561-M, ACCLO
Dr. Jennifer Keller
/ I was contacted by Colonel Sheppard and told by Richard Woolsey, the Expedition Leader, to join the Colonel and his team on a mission to P3X-561-M. It was explained to me that we would attend a search and rescue mission for a people called the Acclosians.
Keller chuckled slightly as she remembered standing in the gate room before the mission.
"Travelling light is not your style, Doc?" Sheppard asked amused, watching her carrying a large rug sack with medical supplies and a smaller one in hand.
She smiled at him. "One can never be too careful," she reasoned.
Rodney rolled his eyes. "It's not like there's been a plague or anything." When no one answered, his expression changed from annoyance to concern. "Right?" he asked for confirmation.
John made a sweeping gesture towards the gate. "The answer will soon reveal itself to you," he replied enigmatically.
Ronon walked up to her as his teammates were busy throwing smart comments at each other. "I'll take the bag," he said, reaching out for it.
"Thanks, Ronon, but I can manage," she replied. "Besides, I'm the one who packed this much in the first place."
She watched him as he nodded and moved away. She could see the hint of sadness in his eyes. It wasn't that she didn't like him but he still scared her at times. She hadn't figured him out yet.
/ Stepping through the gate everything seemed quiet and normal. The climate was very humid and the trek was to be difficult. How the Acclosians could live and grow crops there was admirable. I looked for signs of medical trouble but none was showing. Colonel Sheppard's team consists of strong willed people who are competent and trained for survival.
She looked up from her computer and scanned the chatty infirmary and momentarily considered doing a round to see what was going on but changed her mind and then again concentrated on the report.
"I don't believe it; every insect seem to want a part of me," Rodney complained as he scratched his itching neck.
"Well, it must feel great to be so attractive," John said with a smirk.
She had almost laughed out loud.
The Canadian turned around to face the military leader with an incredulous look on his face.
"Why am I the only one?" the scientist questioned.
"It's probably your bug spray, McKay," Ronon said bluntly.
Teyla took a step towards him and patted him on the shoulder. "Don't worry, Rodney, they aren't poisonous," she said smiling.
/ When we had walked a couple of kilometres several darts approached our position and we had to make a run for it.
She looked up again and the infirmary seemed to have quieted down. Satisfied that she had managed to write this long without interruptions she felt herself drift back to the planet and the unhappy faith of the people that once lived there.
She remembered how frightened she had been when the darts began to descend over their heads. The mere thought of being beamed up on a hive ship, and have your life taken away from you by a vicious alien gave her the creeps.
Pushing those dark thoughts aside she returned to her typing.
/ Having encountered Wraith many times before, Colonel Sheppard's team calmly and methodically shot two of them down before the rest of them retreated down in the valley.
The walk towards the village was smooth and we stopped only to get some water. We arrived at the settlement, or village, in less than an hour and a half.
/ It was unusually quiet, not even the birds sang. If we hadn't run into the Wraith I would have guessed that an epidemic would have been the likely cause of the people here not to contact anyone. Walking on the main street felt like walking on someone's grave. It was an eerie feeling at the site. Doctor McKay and I headed off in search for survivors as the Colonel, Teyla and Ronon moved to secure the area.
Sheppard raised his gun as if expecting trouble, "We need to secure the area," he said.
Ronon nodded and moved closer to his team leader and Teyla quickly followed, taking position behind them.
"I will look for survivors," she said.
John nodded. "Take McKay with you," he replied.
/ We moved towards the life signs and McKay cautioned that they might not be human. The detector led us to an old warehouse on a parallel street from where we had been standing upon arrival. It looked like it had been taken from one of those bad horror movies. We carefully entered the building and moved cautiously through the first floor. Doctor McKay had been right when he thought that the life signs weren't human. I was pushed down on the floor by him as several Wraith could be distinguished in the dark. There seemed to be Acclosians there as well, but, at that moment I couldn't tell whether they were alive or not.
Arriving at the warehouse she felt a chill to her spine. 'Perhaps that horror movie, on the movie night, the day before hadn't been such a good idea,' she thought unhappily. She blamed John for encouraging Ronon to pick such a movie.
When Rodney opened the heavy door she had almost expected to meet some kind of monster on the other side. She felt relief flowing through her system as no one came to great them and she was grateful Rodney took up the front position.
After walking slowly through the empty first floor she thought she heard something. She grabbed McKay's arm in an attempt to stop him and get closer to him. The scientist seemed to be frozen in place at the instant and she got confused. Then, before she could ask, she heard a sound; it sounded like a snarl.
"What was that?" she whispered.
"Wraith," Rodney said. "We have to get out of here."
She felt him trying to push her in the opposite direction of the creatures. She hesitated for a fraction of a second before she started to run for everything she was worth. However, she didn't get very far before she was pushed down behind a large wooden box. Lying flat on the dusty floor she raised her head and saw McKay firing off several shots, returning fire. She prayed the rest of the team would come soon.
Fortunately the waiting was soon over and Rodney's gun was complemented by heavy P90 fire and the distinct sound of Ronon's energy weapon.
She could hear John shout something to Ronon and Teyla and their muffled answers over the weapons fire. She thought she heard her name being called out and was sure of it when Rodney replied they were behind the box.
She heard rather than saw the Wraith tumble to the ground and she carefully glanced over the edge of their cover. Her friends moved swiftly forward, closing in on their position till they came within the distance of a single metre and no Wraith remained upright.
"Oh, thank you…what took you so long?" McKay asked glaring at Sheppard.
"What happened?" John returned, ignoring Rodney's comment.
"What do you think?" he snapped. "The Wraith tried to kill us."
"We got a faint blip on the life signs detector from here," she said sadly as she glanced over her shoulder. The dead were staring back at her through unseeing eyes or just empty eye sockets.
/ Colonel Sheppard, Ronon and Teyla arrived minutes later and took care of the Wraith. What I had caught a glimpse of earlier where bodies of dead villagers. Apparently some Wraith had stayed behind to finish up what they had started. I can only regret that we didn't arrive earlier. Then perhaps the lives of many innocent people could have been spared.
Jennifer could only imagine the horror that the poor people had encountered in their last few hours alive. It chilled her to the bone. The mere thought that it would all have been different if they had come earlier made her sick.
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To be continued
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