Chapter 8

The puddle jumper descended towards the planet and softly touched down. The familiar sounds of the jumper shutting down and the door opening calmed her racing heart. After years of experience with negotiating, she knew outwardly she showed no sign of her anxiety, but in the end every negotiation is stressful in its own right. So much depended on every word, every intonation and every little gesture, and this negotiation would be an important step forward in the world of Atlantis.

The pilot, Lieutenant Miles, smiled at her as he turned to escort her down the ramp. He was one of the youngest members of the marines on Atlantis, and she suspected him – like a number of the younger members – of having a small measure of hero-worship for her. She had noticed this phenomena a few months back, just after they had returned to Lantea. It seemed they had a need for someone to fill a gap in their lives and she had been popped in there. Now they seemed to view her as a surrogate mother that ruled the city.

She smiled at the young man, but to herself she wondered if she really felt old enough to be the mother of the city. Well, she thought as they descended down the ramp, then she had come to the wrong place if she wanted to feel young.

The two of them were met by an envoy of kids waiting just outside the jumper. For a moment they all stood staring at each other, but then a young man – he was definitely a young man by now, no longer a kid – stepped forward and smiled at her.

"Doctor Weir," he happily greeted her. Though she had met him and his people only a couple of months before – when they had first extended the invitation to Lantea – she had instantly liked this particular young man.

"Keras," she smiled at him, "you seem well."

His smile widened and she fell into step beside him; the Lieutenant silently following. "We cannot express our thanks enough for your generosity in taking us in," he told her.

She cocked her head slightly. "You are settling in well?" He looked away slightly and she wondered why he seemed embarrassed. "Is there something you need?" she tried. Though young, these kids were remarkably independent and proud.

"You must think us very young," he finally admitted at what was troubling him. She noticed that the rest of the group had fallen slightly behind, offering the two of them some privacy.

She dropped her head slightly as she looked at him. "You mean because of Atlantis?"

He met her eyes. "We live in trees. Even the Athosians are more advanced than we are," he told her.

She lifted and eyebrow. "There are many who call us young," she admitted to him. "I suppose there are always someone out there that's older than we are. Just remember that old doesn't mean wise," she assured him. He smiled as he accepted this. By now they had reached the community-tree and the kids scurried up the rope ladder. Only the Lieutenant waited for her and she sighed. What she wouldn't give at times to still be as young as these kids! And if she was correct about what the doctors will find later, she suspected John was going to be furious when he found out she had climbed a tree. That was probably why she had insisted on coming here before going to the infirmary: plausible deniability. She might be leader of Atlantis, but from the start John respected her only because he respected her: at any time he can become rather bossy when he felt the need to.

She reached the top and the Lieutenant scurried up after her. She wanted to roll her eyes, but once more Keras spoke.

"You wanted to see us?" he asked, indicating the ring of elders – all even younger than him – and she felt a familiar calm settle over her. Negotiations had begun and she was in her element.

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On the planet the four members of SGA-1 had been walking for over an hour in silence; following the trail left by Pavlov. In the lead was Ronon with Teyla and John following close behind. Rodney, on the other hand, was some ways behind them – often nearly tripping over the odd obstacle in the path they were following – his attention elsewhere as he was working through the numerous files on his tablet; looking for an answer to their missing-Stargate dilemma. He had a suspicion about what could have happened: the only problem was that his notion was a Milkyway Galaxy notion. Well, not that they haven't had their fair share of Milkyway problems here in the Pegasus Galaxy; it was just that too often (okay, usually) the answers were not as easy as he wanted them to be.

Even though his attention wasn't on his surroundings, even Rodney noticed that the forest was getting denser. By now the light from his tablet was stronger than that from the sun and Rodney had time for a moment's fear. But then he opened a file and his attention was diverted away from any impending doom. Besides, if he was correct about why they had lost the Stargate, they were in no danger – except the danger of being gently reminded they are not much more than children.

"Wait," Ronon suddenly said and the whole group instantly became alert. Even Rodney took some time to look up and around.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Look," Ronon said and pointed ahead. It seemed that the path they were on led to the entrance of a cave. And there, exactly there where the floor of the forest turned into the floor of the cave, sat Pavlov. As they had progressed they had heard him a couple of times somewhere ahead of them, but after Rodney had called to the dog a number of times and Ronon had then told him to keep quiet in that voice, they had ignored the bark.

Now the four of them just stood there, staring at the dog.

"You think he'll disappear again?" John finally asked.

"How should I know?" Rodney retorted.

"Well, I wasn't asking you," John snapped back. Rodney lowered his tablet along with his one shoulder and stared at his friend.

"I'm sorry if am annoying you with my answers, but it seems that I am the only one trying to figure out why the dog keeps on disappearing. If I can get to the bottom of that I might even be able to get the Stargate back." Though Rodney had been in full-sarcasm, he had never completely taken his eyes off the dog. He knew that he had better return with the dog or else not at all. Well, Sitnalta probably loved him more than the dog, but he wasn't in the mood to hear her rant about him losing Pavlov. Or worse: what if Sitnalta looked at him with those big blue eyes filled with tears and her lower lip caught between her teeth in an effort to keep the tears in. Only once before had he seen that face and he had vowed to never make her cry again. He was man enough to admit he wasn't man enough to survive that look on her face a second time.

"That's what I said," Ronon answered Rodney, but the scientist wasn't listening. Pavlov was no longer sitting in the entrance to the cave, but had gotten up.

"Wait," Teyla piped up. "I think he wants us to follow him," she said even as the dog barked at them. Then he turned around and ran into the cave.

"You think it's safe?" John asked, looking up at the roof.

"The dog wouldn't have gone in if it wasn't" Ronon rumbled, but Rodney saw he had his gun ready.

"I wouldn't trust that dog," Rodney felt the need to point out. "He's not the brightest dog ever." His friends stared at him and in his mind he worked out exactly what that statement meant. Then he saw Sitnalta's teary eyes. "Oh, right, we have to get him back," he sighed as his while body went limp.

"It's your dog," John said. "Do we follow or not?" he added as he indicated the way Pavlov had run.

"If indeed the answer to finding the gate is in there, we have no choice but to follow," Teyla tried to soothe everyone – again.

"Well, I don't think the roof will fall on our heads," Rodney ventured.

"Let's go, then," Ronon rumbled and proceeded into the cave. Teyla and John followed, and after sighing once, so did Rodney.

The cave was not much more than a natural tunnel into the mountain range. A million small crystals in the walls and roof glowed with a natural radiance, so the path was lighted. In fact, the lights were rather pretty as they shone with a radiant variation of hues.

Then at last the tunnel opened into an immense cave; lit by the same lights. A small waterfall tumbled into a pool to the left of them and the soft light of the crystals danced on the surface. The prettiness of the tunnel was suddenly transformed into stunning beauty.

"Oh, wow. I wonder how the crystals maintain their radiance," Rodney wondered, looking up.

"Perhaps you'd like to ask these nice people," John said to the side. Only then did Rodney look down to see the cave filled with at least two dozen people. They were kind of elfish-looking with pale skins, clothes in shades of pink, blue or purple and pieces of plant stuck into their twiggy hair. They were all looking at the new arrivals.

Suddenly Pavlov bounded up to Rodney from somewhere between the small people and placed his paws on his master's shoulders. A huge pink tongue completed the greeting. Rodney pushed him away.

"Enough of that, you mutt," he growled, but even the dog seemed to know his heart wasn't in it. One of the older-looking aliens stepped forward.

"Welcome," he said.

"Okay, what's going on here? Who are you people?" John demanded. He looked annoyed more than anything. But Rodney knew the truth.

"You're the Nox, aren't you?" he accused.