Ronon Dex scowled.
"I say we leave."
Sheppard looked over at Mitchell, his own expression filled with displeasure.
"I agree."
"What?" McKay looked up at him incredulously. "We can't leave now. Didn't you hear him? He said we can go meet his people now."
"So?" Ronon was less than impressed and it showed. "They aren't going to have anything we need. We-"
"How can you say that?" Rodney asked. "They have a guardian who feeds off emotions and can manipulate the minds of those around him while they're sleeping. Of course they're going to have technology! They probably have all sorts of incredible-"
"Technology they will be willing to part with?" Teal'c asked.
"Well, we won't know until we go and find out, will we?"
McKay was clearly not going to let go of a chance to visit this new community of people without a fight.
Teyla looked over at Mitchell, who hadn't joined in on the conversation.
"What do you think Colonel?"
Since Melony was fairly certain Ronon had taken the dislike to Johvon on her behalf – and probably Teal'c and Sheppard had as well, she hadn't wanted to say anything. However she had to admit that she was curious about these people – and Talon was definitely as interested as Rodney in any kind of technology they might find. Even if no one gave them access to it, if they saw something new it was always possible that between Talon and McKay – and the other brilliant scientists on Atlantis – they could probably come up with something similar.
It wasn't really much of a choice. Her angst over bearing the brunt of the worst of the dreams – aside from the one with Sheppard, which hadn't been awful at all – and the testing there at the end was hardly a contest for the possibility of new technology.
She shrugged.
"I'm not against checking these people out. Talon wants to go. But it's your call, Colonel," she added. He was the one in charge of the group. She was simply there as backup.
Sheppard frowned.
"You're sure?"
"Why not?"
"Because the guy's arrogant and callous," Ronon said, annoyed.
"So is McKay," Melony reminded them.
"I'm right here, you know…"
"I would like a chance to meet these people," Teyla said. "As protected and hidden away as they are, it will be interesting to see what kind of society they have."
"There," McKay said. "See? I'm not the only one."
Sheppard looked at Teal'c, who raised a noncommittal eyebrow. Mitchell had already said she wanted to go, and that was enough for Teal'c. He wasn't going to follow her blindly, but this time it was hardly anything to worry about, really. It wasn't like she wanted to go invade a Wraith hive ship. Had any remained.
Finding his answer in Teal'c's expression, he looked at Ronon.
"Well?"
"I don't like him. And I don't trust him."
"But you'll go?"
"Yeah."
McKay beamed.
"We'll still have to wait until morning, though…" he said. "I wonder if I go back to sleep if I can get back to that convention…"
OOOOOOOOOOOO
"So you aren't worried about a trap?"
Sheppard shook his head, even though he was talking to Elizabeth Weir, who was in the command center at Atlantis and couldn't see the motion.
"We don't think so, no."
"But you really don't expect to find much we can use, either…"
"No, not really. But you never know. We might be pleasantly surprised."
"And we might not be," Ronon added, pessimistically.
Weir hesitated, obviously weighing that in, as well.
"How far away did he say it was?"
"Within a day's walk."
"Which could mean anything, really. He obviously doesn't know how slow Rodney walks."
Ronon and Sheppard both snorted, amused, and Elizabeth Weir smiled – although they couldn't see it.
"Do you want me to send you some reinforcements? Just in case?"
John shook his head.
"Nah. We don't know that the invitation extends to more than just us – and it probably wouldn't look good if we brought extra people." He looked at Ronon. "He might think we don't trust him."
"Or worse," Elizabeth added. "He might think you're planning some kind of takeover with the extra people."
"Good point."
" When are you going to start out?"
"As soon as the sun comes up. We don't want to walk over strange ground without being able to see where we're going – and Rodney insisted on going back to sleep."
Although he was the only one. The others were standing watch; Teal'c with he and Ronon at the Stargate, Teyla and Mitchell back at the cave.
"How long do you think you're going to be?"
Weir wasn't all that keen on the idea of being out of touch with her off world teams, and didn't bother to try and hide her anxiety – especially with some kind of god-like being involved.
"Figure a day's walk there, a day there, and a day's walk back." Sheppard was a lot less nervous than Weir. He was used to these things, after all. "You can try to check in on us if you want, but I'm not walking all the way back here until it's time to go, so we won't be checking in until it's time to come back."
"Very well, Colonel. We'll expect to hear from you no later than three days from now."
"Right."
"And if we don't, you can tell your friend that we're going to come at them with everything we have to find out why."
"We'll be fine. We'll see you soon. Sheppard out."
It was nice to know she cared, though.