Just as the Marines were about to re-board the Jumpers, Penta grabbed hold of Ronon's sleeve and pulled.
"The slavers ship is coming. I can hear it".
"You sure" queried Sheppard, "I can't hear anything".
"Please, I know it is. We have to get away from here before they come and kill us". Penta started to panic.
"Sheppard, this could be good. We can find out from them if Keller is still alive" growled Ronon, before adding "Then I can kill them".
"Okay here's what we're going to do. Lorne, pick two of your best men. I want to bring the ship down, cripple but not destroy it. There's always a chance Keller might be on it. Everybody else, into the Jumpers. We'll cloak till they're down. We need the men that are on board, alive – at least until we find out the score. Is that understood?"
They all agreed – even Ronon who understood the value of intel. For once, things actually went according to plan. The ship made a crash landing and the two slavers staggered out to be confronted by the decloaking Jumpers and a bunch of very angry Marines.
The first slaver – the one who had wanted to kill Keller in the beginning – had no intention of being taken alive. He started firing immediately and was taken down before he managed to hit anybody. The other man fell to his knees, one hand raised and the other pressed to his stomach, trying to keep his insides in place. Sheppard and Ronon made their way to him slowly, wary of a trick.
"Please kill me now" he groaned, "do it quickly".
Ronon pulled the man's hand away and looked at the injury. A large piece of metal was lodged in his body and Ronon turned to Sheppard and shook his head. The man had no chance of survival.
"Tell us what we want to know and I'll give you a weapon to do it yourself. Did you kill the woman, the Doctor?"
"No, we took her to the camp to treat the brats there". He pointed at the dead slaver and continued, "He wanted to kill her straight off but I couldn't do it. She reminded me of someone. When we left she was still alive, I swear".
His voice had gotten gradually weaker with the effort of speaking and John placed a hand gun by his side and walked away. Ronon watched as the man picked it up and pulled the trigger. He then retrieved it and followed Sheppard, tossing it to him when they stopped.
"'Kay, he said Keller was alive when they left the camp. Lorne, did you check out their ship?2
"Yeah, got the co-ordinates, should take us no more than 20 minutes".
Penta, who had been sitting quietly on the floor by Ronon's seat spoke up. "The camp is in a clearing in the middle of a forest. You will have to land further away so they do not see you. If all the guards are there, I think there will be 8 or 9".
"We'll work out how to take them out when we get there. Let's move. Lorne, you're with us. Anders, you keep Jumper 3 cloaked by the Gate. I don't want any of these bastard's friends showing up to the party uninvited".
"Understood Sir" came the reply.
With that Jumpers 1 and 2 took off, cloaked and headed towards the slavers camp.
Meanwhile Jennifer was totally exhausted. She had checked as many of the children as she could with her limited resources but it probably wasn't even a quarter of them. She had managed to co-opt a couple of the older girls to help her, with the promise of a few lollipops. She was, at that moment, sat with her back against the wall of one of the huts, with her eyes closed but not asleep. Suddenly there was a commotion and she quickly stood. Two guards were in the compound seemingly picking kids out for task. When they grabbed at one young boy, he tripped and fell against one of the guards, knocking him off balance and onto his ass.
The other guard lashed out, catching the child in the head and sending him flying.
"Stop that now" yelled Jennifer, rushing over to the fallen boy. He wasn't moving, bleeding from a cut on the back of his head. "It was an accident. You didn't have to hit him like that".
The guard on the floor was furious. Getting up, he pulled the boy away from Jennifer, shaking him violently.
Jennifer saw red. She might not be a fighter but she had sneaked into the gym on more than one occasion to watch Ronon. Unfortunately in her anger, she forgot most of his moves and just flew at the guard, punching, kicking and biting. She didn't stand a chance against him, of course, and all too soon she was being held between the 2 men. She was a wreck – her T-shirt was ripped, her trousers covered in mud and she could already see the bruises forming on her bare arms. She knew, from the pain that she was feeling, that the rest of her body would soon be black and blue. Mentally, she checked herself for other injuries, but found that she just couldn't concentrate.
Suddenly a gunshot filled the air. The slaver boss strode into the compound, a vicious whip in his hand.
"What the fuck is going on" he bellowed.
No one spoke at first. Then a guard, who had been outside the wire, went over to him and murmured something too quietly for Jen to hear. She knew though, that the consequences for her actions were going to be severe.
"The boy gets 5 lashes. I'll deal with the woman later" he said, leering at her and leaving Jen in no doubt exactly what he meant. "Take him".
As the boy was dragged away, Jen summoned the last of her courage. Death she could face but rape was another matter entirely.
She cried out "No you can't. He's only a child. Please let him go, he didn't mean it. You can't punish him for an accident. Take me in his place".
"You are willing to take his punishment. Stupid bitch" he laughed in her face. "Very well. But if you scream you die, and I guarantee you'll scream because I'm going to carry on lashing you until you do. You're weak, useless – just like all women and no woman questions me and lives".
Jen shuddered uncontrollably as she was dragged to 2 posts and tied between them. Her ruined shirt was ripped from her, leaving her in just her work bra and the guard on her left roughly grabbed her breast and squeezed hard. She bit her lip to keep from crying out. And then it began. Each time the whip descended, she clenched her teeth and shut her eyes. She could feel the blood trickling down her back and the tears streaming down her face, but she kept silent.
On the other side of the forest, the 2 Atlantean craft had come in to land and Sheppard, guided by Penta, led his men towards the camp.
"Got to get the Doc fitted with one of McKay's subcutaneous transponders when this is over" he murmured to Ronon as they moved quickly and quietly to the edge of the forest.
From their position they had a grandstand view. McKay took one look and his face paled. He turned, bolted out of sight and promptly threw up. Several Marines looked as though they could be joining him.
"Sorry John...I just...how could they do that to her?" he whispered, on his return.
"Rodney STOP. Don't think about it, 'kay" said Sheppard, his expression cold and Rodney shivered, realising what was about to happen.
He keyed his radio, called out a list of names and ordered, "I want each one of you to pick your target carefully. Head shots only, no collateral damage. Not one of those bastards survives. Am I clear?"
A chorus of 'Yes Sir' was his answer. Penta, who was trying hard not to cry, whispered something to him and John nodded.
"Ronon, the guy with the whip is yours. Take your shots on my mark. McKay, you and Penta stay back out of the way till I say otherwise. This is not going to be pretty".
In the compound, the whip descended yet again, this time curling round Jennifer's left breast, the tip catching her painful nipple and she could hold back no longer.
She screamed.
