Chapter 7

John's earpiece went dead and he looked up at Teyla and Ronon.

"We need to go shoot a dinosaur," he needlessly told them; seeing as they had been privy to the conversation. He reached for the P-90 suspended from his vest. Teyla was already at the door, but she looked worried.

"Colonel Sheppard, if this is the same type of dinosaur we fought that time with Ford..." she began. John scowled and interrupted her.

"Then our weapons won't be of much use against it," he finished the thought.

"It can't be that big," Ronon said with that gung-ho smile of his.

"It's as big as..." John searched for an appropriate comparison, but for now one escaped him. "Well, it's big enough that our bullets only make it angry," he lamely finished.

"I'm afraid Colonel Sheppard is correct," Teyla came to his defence, but John was worried. She only ever insisted on using his title when the situation was dire. Well, it was dire, but that Teyla thought is was made him edgy. "The last time we fought it, the bullets did not penetrate much beyond its skin."

"What, you stopped and looked?" Ronon joked, but now John could see the joking wasn't as light-hearted as only moments before. Neither John nor Teyla bothered answering the man, but Teyla did angle him a look that spoke volumes. "Okay, I get it," he finally rumbled. "It's big enough to try and eat the jumper." Then he frowned. "If we can't kill it, what are we planning?"

"We can't let it eat the jumper, that's for sure," John mused. "But perhaps we can buy Rodney some time until he can get the shields up," he finally decided.

"Let's go," Ronon said even as he loosened his gun. John wondered where he could get one like that, especially as the P-90 bullets were getting low. And it didn't matter that they could reload: to reload one needed the shells and in the heat of battle there are very few marines – or scientists, for that matter – who was going to pick the ejected shells from the ground.

"Colonel," Teyla said as she pressed her ear to the door. "There is something scratching at the door on the other side," she reported.

"Well, if it can fit in the tunnel, then it can't be that big,' Ronon said as his grin returned. "McKay was exaggerating again," he smiled.

John hoped the man was correct. Either way, they had run out of time to discuss it. With their guns held close to their bodies, the two men went to join Teyla at the door. As they reached the door they lifted their weapons: Ronon simply extended his arm and John sighted along the barrel. Teyla, too, had her weapon ready in the same way John did. He nodded to Teyla and she quickly swiped her hand across the crystal-control.

The door slid open. With sure steps the three of them exited the room and entered the tunnel. It was much darker in it than it had been in the mining room and their eyes needed a moment to adjust.

Fortunately the moment it took them to adjust their eyes nothing attacked and they proceeded forward. Teyla, especially, took care to look at the roof. It would not be the first time a SGA team encountered something that hid above them. To be honest, they weren't the first team to have used the roof to hide, either.

The tunnel seemed empty, but they were unwilling to ignore the warning Teyla had given of something scratching at the door. In fact, John quickly turned around and glanced at it.

"You were right," he whispered as he turned back. "Scratches," he explained. Both Ronon and Teyla nodded: something had been in the tunnel only moments before; and now the short side-tunnel was coming up.

"Does anyone find it peculiar that we haven't heard the big dinosaur?" Teyla suddenly whispered. John had to agree: the last time the T-Rex-thing had chased them, it had kept on screaming. Well, he guessed it was a roar, but it was a very high-pitched sound that sounded like the scream of a child. They had also heard the sound over the radio when Rodney had contacted them.

The side-tunnel was now only a meter away and the three of them approached it carefully. Just as they reached it, though, a few smallish dinosaurs came rushing in through the main tunnel. They were only as big as a large dog, but were obviously predatory as they rushed up on their strong hind legs. The three humans opened fire on them and one by one the creatures either dropped or were hurt. Those hit by Ronon's gun were flung backwards and lay where they landed.

Only a few of the creatures remained now, and one by one they stopped. Slowly they raised brightly-coloured collars around their skulls and hissed at the three humans. As they did, another one suddenly appeared from the small side-tunnel they had been forced to ignore for a moment.

Teyla had been standing closest to the tunnel as the creature leapt from it: collar raised. With lightning reflexes Ronon rushed forward and pushed Teyla aside with his momentum. The creature was airborne as the Satedan shot it. But momentum kept it coming forward and it crashed into Ronon with a loud 'thump.' The few still standing in the tunnel-entrance hissed once more and one rushed at John. He shot it even as he heard the sound of Ronon falling.

"Ronon!" Teyla yelled as their friend fell. A blast of red light shot past John and hit another dinosaur.

"I'm okay," Ronon grumbled even as John killed the last of the small dinosaurs. Slowly John backed up to where Teyla was helping the big man get up. On his chest he had a wicked-looking cut.

Sheppard, John's earpiece suddenly crackled. He tapped it.

"What is it, McKay?" he nearly growled.

There are hundreds of little dinosaurs out here, the panicky voice of the scientist answered. They killed the big one, he continued. He sounded stunned.

"We can't kill hundreds," Ronon wheezed. He looked slightly pale, even in the dim light. John nodded.

"Rodney, we're retreating to the mine," he told his friend and broke the connection. As he turned around he was just in time to see Ronon slowly collapsing at Teyla's feet.

"Ronon!" Teyla cried, but John did not have time to pay them any attention as he heard the hissing of another batch of dinosaurs at the tunnel entrance. Quickly he swung his gun around as the creatures attacked. He heard the crack of Teyla's weapon joining him.

Sheppard! Rodney sounded stressed, but John didn't have time to pay any attention to the excitable scientist.

"Not now!" he yelled at Rodney. He shot at another two dinosaurs: one of which had come precariously close to them.

"We have to get Ronon back into the mine," Teyla yelled at him over the noise of the weapons' fire. He knew she was correct. He also knew she was not strong enough to drag Ronon.

"You keep them away, I'll get Ronon," he simply informed her. In answer he saw her move forward into his field of vision. When he was sure she had a clear view of the approaching dinosaurs, he let out a last burst: holding in the trigger and allowing the spread at full automatic to kill as many dinosaurs as possible. He was now out of bullets – during the fight he already had to reload twice – but that did not matter now.

He rushed over to Ronon's inert form and took him by the arms. As quickly as was humanly possible he dragged the heavy body towards the rear of the chamber. Slowly Teyla retreated with them as the dinosaurs pushed her back by a sheer force of numbers. Rodney had been correct when he had estimated there were hundreds of them out there.

Finally John's rear bumped against the door. Quickly he dropped one of Ronon's arms to open the door. Fortunately Ancient technology – as far as opening doors were concerned – did not require intricate procedures. Though his legs were burning, he dragged the unconscious Ronon into the room.

"Teyla!" he yelled as the big man's feet cleared the entrance. Moments later Teyla ran in on quick feet and John, who had already dropped Ronon and was waiting at the panel, closed the door.

In the silence following the fight John heard Rodney's panicked voice. Sheppard, what happened? John realised the scientist must have heard the last of the fight, as he had not broken the connection. Now he tapped his earpiece.

"Ronon was attacked by one of those little dinosaurs." He took a deep breath. "We're safe for now, but Ronon has passed out." He looked down at the unmoving man. "Rodney, get Atlantis on the line," he added with a worried frown.