With Teyla on her heels, Elizabeth followed Nishta inside and downwards, one flight of steps into a cellar, then across and down again, to a second level underground. They turned into a corridor lit by some kind of diffused light with no visible source. Elizabeth trailer a hand along one wall, feeling it strangely smooth and cool under her fingertips. When she looked up, Nishta was watching her.

'Our ancestors built this place,' Nishta explained. 'But the knowledge was lost when the Wraith came, culling hundreds of thousands. Ever since, we have striven to rebuild, but our numbers barely fill a single world. The Ha'taal once straddled multiple homes. Now, we live here, fighting the Wraith once more, teaching them that we are not afraid!' This last was added with a toss of her head, shaking long braids that clattered slightly from their burden of leather thongs and wooden beads. They emerged on a balcony overlooking a great hall. A set of steps swept downwards, and passageways led into the depths of the earth.

'This is incredible,' Elizabeth whispered, leaning over the balcony to look down. Nishta raised an enquiring eyebrow and she translated. The Ha#taal leader nodded, looking down onto a cavern as large as the 'Gateroom on Atlantis.

'Once, the skyship flew, now it rests in the earth. One day my people will know how to fly again and then, then we will cull the Wraith from the skies!' Nishta said eagerly, her eyes alight with hope for the future.

'If you have this, then why do the men stay above ground, to fight? Why not hide here, you could blockade the entrance, kill the Wraith in that bottleneck.'

Nishta smiled, nodding, 'you are curious Elizabeth of Atlantis. So is your O'lar,' she added, nodding to Teyla. 'Tell me Elizabeth of Atlantis, do your women fight alongside the men? I see the life of a warrior in her eyes. You have trained, but she has lived it.'

Elizabeth debated for a moment, but finally she nodded, 'Yes. Some of our women are warriors.'

Nishta nodded, 'so it was once with us. But after the culling the women and children were protected. Taught to fight, but never placed in battle. One day that will change, and all the children of my blood will take their place as warriors and scholars. That it as it should be, yes?' Elizabeth gave a slight smile at her eagerness. 'But for now, here we live, in the safety of the ground and the men fight above.' She pointed to the roof above their heads, her expression sombre, her language switching to the Athosian derivative. 'Now, the men fight. And die. Teyla Emmagan, you are of Athos?'

'Once,' Teyla showed no surprise at Nishta's insight. 'Now, I fight with the Earth-born on Atlantis. They have given us new hope against the Wraith.'

'Do you wish to fight now? Or do you serve as O'lar?'

'O'lar?' Teyla repeated. 'I do not know this term.' She looked to Elizabeth for confirmation, but the word was not familiar.

'Ol'ar, until the child is a year, Elizabeth of Atlantis, Terran leader, needs an O'lar, a woman who has borne one child or many. To aide her when the bearing and the leadership together becomes burdensome.'

'Yes,' Teyla affirmed, nodding, 'I would be her O'lar, if she allows. Today, I observe what she does here, how she greets new people, creating alliances and trade. I learn, and perhaps later I may also teach.'

'Knowledge,' Nishta agreed, 'is sacred, and must be passed from one to another. That an O'lar could learn whilst serving... I shall consider this. Come, Elizabeth of Atlantis, you will sit with the other women and O'lari, Teyla of Athos and I shall guard the doors.'

'I will help,' Elizabeth began, but Nishta held up a hand. 'You know much of us, but not enough. From the time the bearing begins until the child is strong without her mother's milk, the mother is as the child herself, vulnerable and must be protected. You will fight only when we are all dead.'

Comforting thought, but Elizabeth didn't say it out loud. 'Teyla, will you be-?'

'I will be fine, Elizabeth. Go!' Nishta signalled another woman to take her away, and she and Teyla turned their steps back the way they had come.

Above ground, Sheppard signalled his team, spreading them out across the forest as the Wraith came running. Ronan stood nearby, his expression grim. When the first wave hit them, he took down three in quick succession. Sheppard leaned out, the staccato gunfire startling the Ha'taal warriors who watched the enemy fall yards short of their target. With a yell of triumph for the sudden edge they had discovered in battle, Nishta's guardian-warrior, Liten, ran forward, meeting his first Wraith in hand to hand combat. A small clot of the white-haired devils raced for Liten's position and Sheppard slung his weapon, pulling a grenade and pitching it directly into their midst.

When the Wraith were thrown in all directions, some dead, some injured, it only fuelled the Ha'taal bloodlust. Sheppard took a momentary lull to glance around, taking down a Wraith who was trying to outmanoeuvre his position. Ronan was still shooting, and above a high-pitched whine alerted Sheppard to the decoy.

'They're heading for the settlement!' he yelled, switching to Athosian, praying the Ha'taal would understand enough of his words, before shouting, 'Liten! Liten! The settlement!' Liten swung his head around, and a Wraith rose, almost from beneath his feet. 'Liten!' His weapon rose and the Wraith fell back as a hail of bullets impacted his torso. Liten, despite having been seconds from death, let out a cry of victory, his face wreathed in smiles. Yelling to his men, he turned, running for the settlement.

Teyla heard them first. Nishta a moment later. Anger darkened her expression, and she drew two long knives, one from each hip, dropping her cloak to the ground and kicking it aside. 'The Wraith are attacking the settlement instead of facing out warriors on open ground. Cowards!' She turned her head, calling out a single harsh word, and the signal carried back into the cavern itself. Behind them Teyla could hear footsteps, light and quick. The women, amassing to guard the gates into the Ha'taal safe haven.

With the men behind and the women in front, the Wraith who had attacked the settlement were caught between two claws. The whine of darts escaping filled the air as, bleeding and weary, the Ha'taal and the Atlantians took stock of their losses. West was dead, along with a marine named Holden. They found him in the woods, the victim of a Wraith. Nearby one of the enemy lay dead, and Sheppard hoped it was the same one that had killed West. The men they had rescued were still alive and the Ha'taal had suffered losses. Eight men dead, two injured and Nishta herself was hurt. Teyla was sitting with her when Liten led Sheppard and Brannigan underground, leaving the others on the surface above.

They carried Nishta down to the cavern floor, and a stream of women poured from a passageway with water and food. Others brought medical supplies, treating the wounded, and Sheppard watched the organised chaos as the dead were brought down and carried away for tending. Teyla found him there, standing with Brannigan. Before she could speak, Liten joined them, his face grave. 'Nishta will not live the night,' he said in broken Athosian.

'What is the nature of her injury,' Teyla asked.

'The healers tell me she bleeds within where they cannot bind her. If we cut her to reach it, we kill her.'

'We have our own healers, on Atlantis, who may be able to save her. If you allow, we could try,' she threw sideways glance at Sheppard who nodded slightly.

Liten placed a hand over his heart, bowing slightly. 'I will ask the healers if they will consent. We are grateful that you would try, even if it does not succeed. I do not wish to lose Nishta, she is a fearsome leader and proud A'kal.' He turned and disappeared in the direction of one of the corridors.

'A'kal?' Sheppard asked.

'I do not know for certain,' Teyla replied, 'but I think it means wife or mate.'

'Ah. Where's Elizabeth?'

'We were separated. I stood guard with Nishta whilst Elizabeth entered the caverns for safety.'

'Safety?' Sheppard's tone was incredulous. Although Elizabeth wasn't a trained soldier, he'd seen her move the day before when she demonstrated Ha'taal tactics. She had fought before, a spread of scars marred her shoulder, and he hadn't been surprised. Although Elizabeth had always deferred to him in military matters, she never led her people from behind. For a moment he was startled by a feeling of disappointment, that she would turn coward in another reality; and then he remembered she wasn't there and he tensed, looking out over the cavern to try and find her.

'Teyla, arrange with Liten for Nishta's transport to the 'Gate. Brannigan; night was closing in fast up there, and Atlantis will be checking in soon. Go tell Ronan to keep them apprised of our situation. I'm going to find Elizabeth.' He turned, striding across the cavern to the nearest corridor and disappearing inside. Atlantis had already received an update, and Nishta had been carried to the surface where Wyatt, the team medic, was stabilising her for transport to the 'Gate, before Sheppard found Elizabeth. She was emerging from a cavern where they were tending the wounded, her steps weary but her eyes bright, looking for her team. Next to her an older woman patted her on the shoulder and appeared to be giving her some kind of scolding.

Before Sheppard could wonder what it was about, he joined them. 'Where the hell have you been, 'Liz'beth?'

'With the rest of the women, I heard the commotion and came to investigate, but Tarla there,' she pointed to the woman who was scurrying away, 'insisted that the O'lari checked everything was clear before she allowed us out. I've been with the wounded ever since. How's Teyla? Ronan? The rest of the team? I've seen them, but no one has had a chance to report.'

'West is dead,' he said shortly, the disappointment coming back even though it had no reason to. 'So's Holden. Ronan's injured, but he overstretched himself, that's all. Nishta's badly injured, we're taking her back with us, see what Keller can do for her.'

'Nishta!,' Elizabeth looked horrified. 'Badly?'

'Bad enough, they think she won't last the night, so we're moving out now.'

Elizabeth nodded, falling into step with him. 'How was it up there?'

'Noisy,' he commented shortly, his expression unreadable. 'Let's move,' and he walked on, Elizabeth lengthening her stride in an effort to keep up. When they emerged to twilight, Teyla was at Nishta's side, two other women of the Ha'taal standing with her. Nishta herself lay still, her eyes closed and for a moment Elizabeth feared the worst.

One of the Ha'taal warriors caught sight of them, raising his voice, 'O'lar!' He called out to Teyla, making the same assumption Nishta had. It was no secret amongst the Ha'taal that the Atlantean leader carried a child. 'Elizabeth!'

Teyla hurried over to them, catching the direction of Elizabeth's worried gaze. 'She sleeps,' she assured her, 'her women will walk with her.' Sheppard had already moved away, and they formed up again, this time less formally, looking out for trouble more than form. But the skies and woods remained quiet. They dialled in and sent the code, opening the iris to the City, and stepped through the wormhole.