Thank you for all the comments! Every comment makes me feel all happy and feeds my dragony soul ;) Last chapter before the holidays and I hope you like it! Been a really busy few weeks and I've not been able to spend the time I would like on my writing. Hopefully I will have more time after the holidays now that commissions are all finished :) Hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and a happy New Year :D
But what is happening to Rodney?! Ooooh you will have to keep reading to find out ;)
The day had begun like any other; an early rise and breakfast before suiting up, followed by a briefing of the days mission in the conference room. Rodney, of course, decided to skip breakfast and stock his back pack with sugary energy bars instead, not wanting to be late for his first mission back on the team. Of course he arrived late to the meeting, not the best of starts, he thought. When the meeting was over, no one was particularly enthused about going on the mission, one reason being that their Genii "friends" had given them the intel. No matter how much information or help the Genii gave, John would never trust a thing about them, and given what he had been through at the hands of the Genii, no one blamed him for thinking that way. They were heading to a planet known as Gulyna, a young planet, apparently rich in many foods and ores that would replenish the low stores on Atlantis. There were also reportedly special medicinal herbs that Carson and his team had taken a particular interest in. Despite John's reservations; he didn't trust them a damn, it all sounded too good not to have a look at.
Apparently the home of a somewhat primitive culture, the population that had developed, lived on a single continent of the planet; the one on which the Stargate was located. They had been told that the settlement itself was some distance from the gate, so it was decided that they would take a PuddleJumper, set down just outside the settlement area and make the final leg of the journey on foot. The plan was basically to walk to town, meet the locals, form some kind of trade agreement and head home. It all sounded straight forward enough, a mission like many they had carried out many times before elsewhere, but when they reached Gulyna later that morning, it didn't at all go to plan.
First annoyance was the high winds that tunneled down the valley, creating a turbulent flight that pushed John to keep the craft in a straight line. Then, once in sight of the chosen landing area, the Jumper dropped suddenly and clipped some kind of small landmark that turned out to be the first in a mile long line of idols that would lead through the forest straight to the heart of the settlement. John set the Jumper down some yards away from the toppled statue and once they disembarked, they made their way towards it with the intent to right it again, no harm no foul. As they neared, it became obvious that it had wraith like qualities to its features and they figured that perhaps the indigenous people had a strange fascination for the wraith, which at once put them all on edge. As John reached out to touch it, around twenty human natives ran from the cover of the surrounding trees, weapons held high while screaming tongue twisting obscenities towards the team. Teyla, ever the diplomat, advised John and Ronon to lower their newly raised weapons, as she was sure that the guns might provoke them into using their sharp spears on them and that the best chance at ending the confrontation peacefully, always stood on the grounds of a heart felt apology.
The apology worked somewhat, placating the angry people who lowered their weapons and thankfully ceased their ear splitting screeching once the idol was righted again. Flanked on all sides and following the line of small crude statues, they were led through the trees towards the settlement. There, the line of idols continued until they stopped at the doorway of what appeared to be a simple temple, where they were greeted by the shamanistic leader and his wife. He introduced himself as N'panyu Great High. What he was great or high at, they had no idea, but he certainly put on the airs and graces of a diplomat, while adorned in feathers, fur and roped beading with mud smeared over his body. Teyla again reiterated the apology, explaining that it had not been their intent to in any way affront their God, and that it had merely been an accident. N'Panyu accepted her apology and invited them all to join him in the temple with his wife, for a small meal before the negotiations began.
It was clear that although their culture appeared to be primitive, they were by no means less intelligent than any other species or persons they had met. N'Panyu for all his appearance, was quite obviously a shrewd and intelligent man, asking questions that quite frankly surprised John as they made their way to the inner room of the crude temple.
"Your ship, it has the ability to thread the gates? It is almost like the small Wraneth ships, does that mean you also have bigger ships from where you launch?"
Wraneth wasn't a word John had ever heard before, but Teyla was quick to point out that it was an archaic title for the Wraith that had once been used in reverence before people understood what they really were. It was another thing to feel uneasy about and John was liking Gulyna less as the day went on and by the looks of it, Ronon even less so. They entered the room at the very heart of the temple, a round dark room with a dusty sand floor. Decorated minimally, there were sconces for meager lighting but only a few of them were lit, and huge thick red curtains covered most of the walls. Their seats were fat round cushions placed in a circle around a central fire pit that glowed warmly and kept the room at an uncomfortably warm temperature. N'panyu's wife lit another couple of sconces and brought the lighting up to a more tolerable level, allowing them to see a great deal more. For example, the strange carvings around the fire pit and the unsettling red smears on the wall not covered by the curtains became quite vividly obvious and more sinister with the flickering light.
Two men and one woman brought them platters of food, some more appetizing than others, and Rodney looked at it all with disgust. Once he was sure none of the others were being poisoned, he chanced a taste at what looked like a banana, only to find it tasted oddly like an orange, which put him off eating altogether. Two younger women brought in a large urn from which they poured a golden yellow liquid which tasted of vanilla and chocolate. Of course, as with any initial meeting, none of them took any large amount of food or drink, especially with them already feeling uneasy, but they ate enough as to not appear impolite. Before long, N'panyu had clapped his hands for the meal to be taken away, which it duly was by the attendants, some of whom licked their lips as they stared at the food they were carrying away, giving the impression that the feast was not something they saw every day. Everything seemed to be going well despite their initial misgivings, that was, until N'panyu asked for silence so that he could say an after meal prayer of thanks to their God. They sat in silence as he rose to his feet and began gesticulating in front of one of the heavy curtains, murmuring and whispering as his hands made shapes in the air. He then took hold of a piece of dark rope and pulled it, which hoisted the curtain upwards to reveal the God's statue behind it.
The statue almost seemed alive, almost too convincing in it's depiction of N'panyu's god. Tall and elegant, it was detailed and painted to the highest degree, from the long flowing hair to the perfectly fashioned feeding mouth embedded within the outstretched hand. The wraith queen looked out over the room with cold sightless eyes as if she was overseeing the meal in person. On sight of it, Ronon had quickly gotten to his feet, pulling his pistol from its holster as his eyes scoured the room for any signs of ambush or hostile confrontation, but in doing so, he himself created one. N'panyu stared at him in horror, for Ronon was standing when no one should, except himself as leader. John pulled at Ronon's long coat but the Satedan pulled it from his grasp then went to sit again when N'panyu made a loud screeching noise that brought guards running into the room. They were all on their feet before N'panyu could finish dropping the curtain, either to hide the statue or so that the queen might not look upon what was about to happen. Either way, once the curtain hit the floor N'panyu ran towards Ronon screaming loudly. Seeing the man, blinded by fury running towards him, Ronon simply raised his arm and prepared to take an impact. It was an effortless and effective move as N'panyu ran straight into his tight fist, his nose crunching on contact. With a squeal of pain, Nypanyu fell to the ground clutching at his shattered nose, triggering a loud awful screeching from his guards which alerted almost everyone in the vicinity that the visitors were no longer welcomed.
Taking it as their cue to leave, the team grabbed their things and ran, bursting out of the temple at top speed with the guards hot on their heels. They ran from the settlement for their lives as spears, bricks and pretty much everything else that the natives could lay their hands on were hurled at them with uncanny precision. By the time they were reaching the edge of the tree line near the Jumper, they were cut and bruised from the well aimed missiles but they were not out of trouble yet as when the Jumper came into sight, it was surrounded by a group of people who were currently either trying to lift the ship or break into it. It was not immediately clear which was the case as about half were hitting it with stones and such while the other half were attempting to push long wooden levers beneath it in order to carry it. Whatever they were trying to do, the team had to get the hell off this planet before anyone was seriously hurt, and Teyla warned Ronon, who had his pistol pointed at the locals, that shooting them all was not an option.
"So what are we going to do?! We can't just wait here like sitting ducks! First mission away and this is what happens? I knew I should have stayed on Atlantis." Rodney moaned, yet he was relishing being back on the team and experiencing the heady buzz of danger.
"Now I know you'd rather be here, Rodney." John drawled as he watched some of the natives through his gun sight. "We couldn't hold you back, remember?"
"Yes, well, perhaps if Mr Punch-first-ask-questions-later hadn't attacked their leader, we wouldn't be in this situation!" Rodney glared at Ronon, who shook his head and laughed quietly.
"I never punched him, he ran into my fist." Ronon replied with a grin.
"Well I think that we can rule out any trade negotiations with this lot, yeah?" John said as he took careful aim towards the rear of the Jumper.
His gunshot echoed in their ears, meaning to disperse the natives attacking the ship, but all it did was draw attention to their position as every one of them turned to look at them before raising their arms and pointing at the team while screeching loudly. It was like a scene from some awful horror movie but it alerted the others who had been quietly searching the woodland and then they too began screeching as they swiftly made their way towards the team.
"Cover me!" John said and he broke cover before anyone had a chance to speak.
Running into the oncoming mob, he fired off warning shots as he went, forcing the angry people back as he raced to the Jumper. A spear and a large stone bounced off the side of the Jumper as he activated the switch to open the hatch and he hunkered down just inside the hatch for cover as he laid down cover fire for the others.
Ronon's powerful particle magnum was set to stun, and he fired it relentlessly leaving people slumped on the ground as he moved forward. Teyla fired off warning bursts from her P90, clearing a path as the three made their way slowly back to the safety of the ship.
"Remind me again why we can't just shoot them!" Rodney said as he shot his handgun at the feet of an oncoming local.
"Just keep moving, we are nearly there!" Teyla called back.
John continued to lay down cover fire as the three got nearer to the ship, but the mob was growing as other people arrived from the settlement, all joining in the attempt to kill the team. He watched helplessly as Rodney and Teyla were grabbed at and pulled deeper into the crowd, then he saw Ronon's fury peak as he roared and fired his pistol indiscriminately at the would be captors. The crowd broke apart once half of them were stunned and allowed Teyla and Rodney to get back to their feet and make a run for the ship. John stood and urged them on, gun raised in case they were attacked on the way. So close now, a few more steps and they would be within the safety of the ship and able to get the hell off Gulyna. But as he watched them run towards him, he saw Ronon's head jerk, then his eyes rolled back in his head as he fell to the ground amidst a surge of locals. The others must have seen the shock on John's face as they immediately stopped and turned to see what he was looking at. John then sped past them, ordering them to stay with the ship and keep it defended. He ran towards the small crowd that had now grown around Ronon's fallen body and John roared angrily, firing his P90 directly at those who posed the biggest threat. Flesh wounds were nothing compared to what he would do if he lost Ronon to them. The crowd dispersed quickly when the people saw blood being shed, leaving John to help the fallen man. Ronon was groaning, a mat of bloodied hair on the back of his head from where a rock had hit and it was evident by the marks on his clothing that the crowd had also had a good try at kicking the life out of him. John helped him to roll over onto his back, as Teyla came forward to provide cover fire should it be necessary.
"It's me, I've got you." John said as a dazed and confused Ronon tried to push him away.
"Never doubted it." Ronon replied as his eyes focused on him then allowed John to help him to his feet.
John supported Ronon back to the ship as Teyla walked behind them with her gun raised. Once the three had made it into the ship, Rodney hit the switch to close the hatch. Teyla attended to Ronon as John jumped into the pilots seat and made to take off.
None of them were looking towards the rear of the ship or Rodney. But had they been looking, they would have seen the final spear thrown by one of the more courageous of the angry crowd, and it should have taken Rodney between the eyes had it not been somehow deflected. They might have seen the spark of bluish white that lit up from within Rodney's eyes as he watched the spear fly through the air towards him. They might also have seen his perfectly calm demeanor that was so unlike Rodney McKay and so highly out of character given the circumstances that it would have surprised them. But the only thing they saw when they turned at the sound of the hatch finally closing, was Rodney looking at them with his head cocked to the side in momentary confusion before he went completely limp and fell to the floor of the craft with a thud.
He watched the long pole with the bladed point fly slowly through the air. It was clear what the intentions were behind it being thrown but he was confused as to the motivation. It made a clean arc through the air towards him, but the spear didn't even get close when it was stopped in its track as if it had struck a solid object, then fell harmlessly to the ground below. Then, he turned to look at the place in which he stood that was currently moving through the air. It was a flying room, vibrant in colour with light that shone from lines within the walls, mesmerizing him. What those lines were, he had no idea, but they pulsed and flowed and he followed the movement of the light within them until his eyes fell upon the other things in the flying room. There were three inhabitants, each very different than what he thought they should be, each incredibly fascinating. In what he considered the head, he saw sparks of light which flowed through a thousand fold myriad of vessels within their bodies, not unlike his own kin, but in different form. And they were speaking, but their words held no meaning for him, their speech alien and confusing. One was attending another whose internal fluid was leaking from a wound in his head, the third appeared to be the one controlling the flying room. But they were slow, so very slow in every way, it confused him. Their movements took so long to complete it baffled him as to how they could possibly be alive. Why did they move and speak in such a sluggish way? And why was the injured one not healing itself? In fact, the entire scene confused him so much that wished to flee the flying room and escape from the strange beings! Then the big door of the flying room closed behind him and his escape route was shut off. The sound of the door closing made two of the inhabitants look towards him, their eyes staring at him strangely. They spoke to him but he had no idea what they were saying, their words drawn out into long low noises that were indecipherable. It was too much to take in and as the smaller inhabitant got to its feet to approach him, he felt his heart racing as his eyes closed and he fell to the floor.
"Wha...what happened?" Rodney asked when he opened his eyes to see Teyla looking down at him with a worried expression.
"Is he alright?" He heard John ask from the front of the Jumper.
"Yeah he's fine. Fainted." Ronon replied as he held a wound dressing to the back of his head.
"Ah, just the usual then?"
"Yup."
"I did not!" Rodney's face flushed red with indignation as he sat himself up and pushed them from him. "I was dizzy and fell over as we took off." He lied.
"Course you did." Ronon replied, attempting and failing to hide his smile.
"Oh whatever Cave Man!"
Reaching into the front pouch of his back pack, he pulled out a handful of energy bars then proceeded to stuff one in his mouth. "Shee? Jusht low 'n shuga." He mumbled with a full mouth. "Howsh your head?"
"I'll live. Thanks to Sheppard."
Given what he had seen of the two's virtually non existent relationship, Rodney was surprised that Ronon acknowledged John at all. Even John seemed surprised as he glanced briefly over his shoulder. The Jumper passed through the gate then materialized in the Atlantis gate room, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. It had been a hell of a mission to be his first, and as the others chatted away, Rodney sat in quiet reflection over the very strange dream he had experienced when he had passed out. It unsettled him as he was nearly one hundred percent sure that he had been awake throughout it, yet he could not possibly have been. He remembered the strange images of Teyla, John and Ronon and how peculiar they had looked to him, how strange they had sounded. And the Jumper itself, how it had shone brightly and how the electrical cables through it had glowed and pulsed. How slow everything had been, especially his team mates, surely it had been a dream? But he put it down to his own time slowing down as he passed out, there was no other logical explanation, really. After all he had blacked out as the hatch was closing, perhaps it was some strange quirk of his mind shutting down, that he had imagined it all entirely. He had missed breakfast in his haste to join the team and be back on off world missions, the excitement of which had carried him through the day until his body decided that he could not live on adrenaline alone and reminded him of the importance of eating. This is what he told himself had happened; that he had suffered a hypoglycemic attack due to his stupidity. And he would tell the same to anyone who asked what had happened.
The Jumper came to a stop in the Jumper bay and Rodney stuffed another energy bar in his mouth as he gathered up his things. He could not shake the feeling that something was wrong, yet he could not, would not jeopardize his reintegration back onto the team because of one stupid daydream. So he pushed the dream, if indeed that had been what it had been, to the back of his mind and tried to forget it.
TBC...
