Chapter 10
When the team gathered in the morning, John and Enya exchanged smiles that recognized the closer friendship since their meeting the previous night. They were no longer simply foreign co-workers.
This time they took the jumper so that the wraith would not spot them and if anything did go wrong, they had extra means of fighting.
"I looked at those papers Enya grabbed." Rodney told them. "It took awhile to translate, but the rock we need is a distance from the town area." John lowered the jumper down into the gate room and through the gate.
Thankfully there was no sign of wraith as they flew out over the planet.
"Head East." Rodney directed.
The scenery changed from the city to dense flat forest that stretched on as far as they could see.
"What land marker is mentioned?" Teyla asked.
"Well…none really, but…hey, what's that?" Rodney pointed to a small glen in the north. John flew the jumper a little closer, but the glen appeared to be empty of anything man-made.
"Should we keep looking?" John asked.
"Why are you asking me? Oh yeah…sure, why not. I don't see any other signs around here. Let's land."
The jumper was just small enough to fit in the opening. The ship became invisible to the team as soon as they exited.
"Well, no sign of strange energy transmission or alien rocks yet." Rodney muttered.
"So what are you saying? We're in the wrong place?"
"Look at this." Ronan pointed to a thin trail between two large trees.
"That could mean something." They followed Rodney single file down the trail. The forest seemed to become thicker with every step they took. Soon they all had various lights on to help them see the path.
They continued on for over an hour.
"Can you still see the trail?" Shepard called from the back.
"I can't see much of anything right now!" McKay called back, and stopped to look at his scribbled notes. Teyla saw him stop, but Ronan and John didn't, which caused Ronan to walk into Teyla.
"Ronan?" John shone the light right on his face when he heard him grunt from the bump. "I thought Enya was right in front of me." He shone the light around them, searching for her.
"Enya?" No answer.
"This is great. Just great. We're lost. Now she's missing…Elizabeth was tight. She shouldn't have come." Rodney spouted.
"Hey! She wouldn't be lost if you hadn't led us into who knows where!"
"Why does everyone always blame everything on me?" Rodney pouted loudly.
"Alright, let's backtrack. Maybe she's on the trail." John turned and headed back toward where the handheld was showing the jumper.
"This does not appear to be the same path we took before." Teyla pointed out after a few minutes of walking.
Beads of sweat began to form on John's forehead as panic rushed through him. Where was Enya? What happened? He called her name again, but no reply.
"Oh…not good, this is not good." Rodney stopped short.
"What now?" John asked in an exasperated tone.
"We just picked up a strange transmission signal. I can't tell if its an energy source or life form or anything…"
"How close are we to it?"
"Very close. Its just this way." Rodney veered to the left. A few feet later they stumbled onto a large hold that continued to burrow into the ground like a tunnel. They all turned their flashlights to shine into it, only revealing a length that continued underground.
"The signal is definitely coming from here." Rodney told them. No one moved.
"Well? Who's going to go into the creepy tunnel first?" They all stared at John. "And I guess that would be me again. You guys realize that that your turn is coming, right?" John grunted as he lowered himself down into the hole, flashlight first.
"Holy cow!"
Hisss. A large spider emerged towards him, pincers opening and closing. It was brown and about 3' by 3'. Its eight legs were covered in sharp hair. John immediately scrambled out of the hole and back to his feet.
"He – hello?" A female voice trembled from inside.
"Enya?" John exclaimed.
"John! Can you get me out of here?" Her voice shook fear.
"How did you get in there?" McKay asked. He eyed the spider with disgust.
"I fell in, and I'm surrounded by spiders! If I make a move they hiss at me and come closer. I feel like I'm going to pass out!"
"Oh please. Don't do that." Rodney ordered.
"Did you try to shoot them?" John asked.
"Yes. They only get angrier. They won't die. The one I shot bit me."
"I'm going to try with my gun, it's more powerful than yours. Sit tight." John focused on the target and fired two shots with the mode set to kill. The spider whined and retreated back into the cave.
"What's it doing?" John asked.
"Coming back out!" The spider ran toward them, baring its teeth and glaring.
"All at once!" John yelled and they all fired at the beast. It hissed and whined, but slowed to a stop. It kicked its legs madly as it sat on the ground. John fired one more shot and it the spider collapsed; dead.
The team rushed back to the cave.
"Can you get out now?" John asked.
"No. There are two more spiders."
"Do you see any strange rock in there?" Rodney asked, receiving a glare from John.
"Yes, actually." Her breathing was beginning to sound labored. "The spiders appear – to be – feeding off of its energy."
"That explains a few things." John said through clenched teeth. "All right. Lets try to get the spiders out." John shuffled his feet in front of the entrance, but they didn't come.
"They may be attracted to light." Ronan suggested. They al pointed the their lights down into the entrance. One spider cautiously appeared. John quickly let out a string of shots. The spider did not die, but angrily turned back into the tunnel.
"Time for a new pl-"
"Ahh!" An agonized scream came from the cave.
"Enya?" Teyla called. No answer.
"I'm going in." John dropped to the ground and elbowed in, firing a chain of blasts. "I think I killed the one." He called. "I just need to remove it from the entrance." He clipped a claw on the end of a rope to one of the spiders legs and wiggled backwards.
After dropping the spider next to the first, he crawled back in.
"She's unconscious. The third spider is guarding the rock." John radioed.
"Well kill it!" Rodney shouted back.
"Its too dangerous in here. Let me get Enya out first." John shifted the girl so that he could loop his arms under her shoulders and worked his way backwards, dragging her along at a slow pace.
Teyla bent at Enya's side when they were out. "The bites on her leg look pretty bad. I don't think we can do anything for her."
"In the meantime, we have to get that rock." Rodney demanded.
"Fine! Then you go down and shoot the giant venomous spider." John told him.
"I can't! I'm claustrophobic!"
"Of course you are."
"Would shooting it not work again?" Ronan asked.
"If I shoot, there's too much of a chance that I'll hit the rock."
"Throw stones at it then." Rodney sputtered.
"There's a great idea. I thought you were supposed to be smart, Rodney."
"All right, calm down." Teyla told them. "I will go down and see what I can do." She lowered herself into the cave and gracefully slid in. soon they heard angry hissing and a surge of gunfire. A minute later she re-emerged, dragging the rock.
"Ha! A woman did it better than you did!" Rodney laughed.
"Don't even start, McScaredyCat." John ordered, wiping the smirk off of Rodney's face.
:"We need to get Enya back as soon as possible. The poison is spreading rapidly."
"Understood." John found the location of the jumper on his device. Ronan lifted Enya up, and Rodney cradled the rock. They made it back to the jumper within half an hour.
- - -
"Medical team to the gate room!" Elizabeth called over the radio when as the team loaded out of the jumper.
"Is she all right?"
"Bites from a giant spider." Shepard supplied.
"But we found the rock!" Rodney announced, triumphantly holding up the large stone.
"Good job. Bring it to the labs to be tested." Weir told him.
As the medical team placed Enya on the stretcher, John watched helplessly. An awful feeling of guilt settled in. Once again she had gotten hurt while he should have been protecting her.
Thank you for the reviews! I have another chapter on the way. I would love to know what you think about how the story is going in the meantime!