Disclaimer: I think everyone gets the gist of this now. Outside of my own characters, I own no one and nothing. Admittedly, I'm planning on creating a portal and grabbing John Sheppard and Ronon Dex. Two of the hottest men to ever grace the TV screen!
I would like to apologize for how long it has taken to get this chapter up on FF. The part time job I took up a couple of months back upped how many hours I work for them during the day, so my life's been hectic to the nth degree lately. Working eight hour days with no idea when exactly they want me to work has kept me on my toes.
To be honest, I've had the majority of this written, it's just taken me a while to get the rest of it written, edited and up on FF all the while dealing with Writer's Block that's been determined to keep me guessing for as long as it could. I'm still in the process of trying to write my novel throughout all of this, which is a mighty good kick in the pants I'll tell you.
The next chapter to come up is Critical Mass and I have a plot or three kicking around that need to be edited. Let me know if you have any ideas.
Chapter 24: You Know, I've Never Had An Epiphany Like This Before
John Sheppard sighed as he followed Rodney, wondering what had the scientist so focused on the scanner in his hands. Well, he knew, but he didn't know what had the Canadian acting as if he was hunting for the White Stag C. S. Lewis had described.
Shaking his head as Rodney calmly led the way around the circular mountain range, easily keeping up with the man as the rest of his team did the same. Martouf, Teyla and Ronon were all behind him, walking calmly and easily at the slow pace they were taking.
It was their first 'hard' mission after the... debacle... with Ford and John had suggested that Dr. Witcker remain in the City or used on other teams when his team didn't need an Ancient translator at the very start of a mission.
His idea hadn't been popular with the woman, but she'd relented when she'd stumbled from her seat when she'd made to get up in indignation. He'd done his best to not smirk, but from the huff the woman had given, John knew he hadn't been successful. Dr. Witcker had made a condition that a small group of people from the Translation Department be kept at the ready in case a team needed 'emergency' off–world translations.
John had agreed to the idea before promptly telling both Camilla and Dr. Witcker that until Carson completely cleared her of any weakness from the enzyme–withdrawal, she wasn't to be put on even the new, small team.
"Why do you have to park so far away?" Rodney complained, not looking up from the scanner in his hands, drawing John's attention back out of his memories.
John sighed, shaking his head. "This ridge was a little further away than it looked," he answered. "You can't just land a Jumper anywhere, Rodney."
Rodney sighed, shaking his head. "Ah, it doesn't matter now" he said. "I think we're almost there."
John shook his head again, watching as the scientist continued walking. "Rodney," Teyla called. "Do you even know what it is we are looking for?"
The scientist shrugged a shoulder. "Yeah well, whatever it is, it's around here somewhere," he answered.
"What's around here?" John heard Ronon ask from somewhere behind him.
"Whatever it was that was that was causing the energy spike we detected from the Puddle Jumper."
John sighed, moving past the stationary scientist, looking through the trees around them. "Do you have any idea what that looks like?" he asked the man.
"I'll know it when I see it," was the retort before John heard a pleased 'aha'. "And I see it."
John turned to look at Rodney, seeing the man pointing off to his left and he moved after the scientist, watching as he pulled down fresh growing vines that clung to the cliff surface they'd been skirting around since leaving the Jumper.
The pilot calmly moved to stand beside Rodney, pushing aside more of the vines as he heard Ronon doing the same.
"Looks like a door," the Satedan commented.
John focused his gaze on the cave entrance, ignoring Rodney as he took in the details that met his eyes. It looked like an ordinary cave and he calmly tugged down several of the vines before he lifted his P–90 up as he moved closer, hearing Martouf's Staff Weapon activating from somewhere behind Rodney.
He shook his head, sighing. "Well, looks like the only way through the ridge anyway," he commented. "It runs for miles." He took a breath. "Alright, let's check it out."
John stepped closer, making to go through it, pausing when he felt Rodney touch his shoulder.
"Whoa–whoa–whoa–whoa–whoa!" he said. "There's something there."
John turned slightly as the man let go of his shoulder. "What?" he asked, realising he was just short of the doorway.
He watched Rodney look at the data–pad in his hands before the scientist looked back up. "Some kind of energy barrier around the threshold," he answered.
John mulled the information over and looked back at the doorway before he stepped to one side, taking a stone that Martouf passed to him. He hefted it in his hand, testing the weight before he threw it at the doorway.
A short, sharp hum rang in the air the moment the stone touched the doorway before it and the stone disappeared, a blue ring of light floating in the doorway for a second before it faded from view.
"It disappeared," Teyla said.
John nodded, his mind mulling the information over. "Or it went right through a cloak," he added.
"It has many of the same properties as a cloaking field," Rodney commented.
John nodded as he looked at the doorway. "Yeah," he muttered. "The Ancients did tend to hide all the really cool stuff."
Rodney shrugged a shoulder. "Yeah," he answered. "I would just like to be able to explain these readings better before we step through." John looked back at the archway, seeing nothing amiss, even as he heard Rodney's fingers click several times. "Get me a branch."
Looking at the scientist, the pilot watch as the man nodded at the bag slung on his back. "You got tape?"
John squatted at that, swinging the bag free from his back. He was pretty sure he had something – parcel tape, masking tape or duct tape – he had something and he heard Rodney digging around in his own belongings.
"Because, I got a camera!" he heard the scientist comment even as John began to pull out the objects in the bag, setting the MREs down nearby before he grinned, seeing the duct tape.
Packing quickly, he stood and watched as Rodney stood with a stick and camera. "Okay, so, tape it to the stick," the Canadian said.
John calmly unwrapped the end of the tape and worked quickly, taping the camera to the stick, leaving the controls clear, even as the pilot sensed Martouf standing nearby, watching on with an amused air.
"We extend the camera through, record for a few minutes, pull it back, play the recorder," Rodney said when John pulled back.
The pilot chuckled at that, grinning slightly. "M.A.L.P. on a stick!" he commented as he crouched back down, re–packing his back around the duct tape.
He didn't need to be listening to the scientist to know he'd just received a sarcastic comment as Rodney went to work, slipping the branch through the field. John stood as he swung his bag back onto his back, settling the weight until it was comfortable. H watched as Teyla moved to the cave wall to the right of the doorway, her eyes focusing on something – writing from what little John could see. When he felt a hand on his shoulder, he calmly took a step to one side, watching as Martouf joined the Athosian woman.
"I am not fluent in Ancient," Teyla said. "But I do recognise a few words: 'welcome' and 'ascension'."
Martouf hummed from beside the woman. "Even with my own understanding, I cannot get any more than Teyla," he said.
"Ascension?"
John glanced at Ronon, seeing the confusion on the Satedan's face. If John was being honest, even he had trouble completely understanding what Ascension was despite everything that Chaya had shared with him.
"To a higher plane of existence," Martouf said as he stepped back from the panel, turning to look at Ronon. "The Ancients – Ancestors – built the Stargates and evolved to a point where they could exist as pure energy."
The Satedan smirked at that. "That'd be great!"
Rodney sighed at that. "Yeah, well, sadly it's a matter of, uh, evolution," he said, looking at Ronon before he looked away. "Anyway... I'm sure we've got more than enough now." He stood back from the portal and John watched as he pulled the camera back. "There we go. And... have a look, shall we?"
John moved to join him and the others as he switched the camera on, showing the other side of the portal. Glancing at the archway, John quickly noted that it looked exactly the same in the camera as what the portal was showing.
"OK, then! Any volunteers?" Rodney asked.
Sighing, John settled his pack a little more comfortably across his shoulders. "I'll go," he offered as he stepped towards the archway.
"Just... back out if you encounter anything problematic."
John stopped mid–step and turned to look at the Canadian. "Problematic?" he asked.
Rodney nodded calmly. "Yeah, like poisonous atmosphere, acid atmosphere, no atmosphere," he answered before he pointed to the camera on its stick. "Hey, it's a M.A.L.P. on a stick; only shows you so much."
Grimacing for a moment as the possibilities of 'problematic' raced across his mind, John took a breath and nodded. "Okay," he muttered. "Here goes."
Gripping his P–90, he held it up in front of him as he stepped towards the field, the energy changing to a bluish colour as the weapon went through first. He kept moving as he felt his hands slip through.
"Weird!" he muttered as he let his arms move into the field. "Yeah, it's kinda hurting my hands a little."
"OK, so get out of there," Rodney told him.
John stopped walking and leaned back slightly to pull his arms out before he felt a kernel of panic settle into the pit of his stomach as he leaned back more, settling more of his weight against the pulling force of the portal. "I'm trying to, but it's pulling me in."
He felt something grab the back of tac vest and pull, hard. The grip and the strength quickly told John that Ronon had moved to help him.
"I got you," the Satedan said, confirming John's thoughts as he pulled back more on his arms, trying to pull them out.
Despite Ronon's admittedly impressive bulk anchoring them both, John could see that he was slowly being pulled deeper into the portal and the pilot quickly looked at the others.
"Okay, come on, guys," he said. "Get me out of here!"
He saw Teyla move and felt her grip onto the back of his tac vest, even as he saw Martouf darting around behind him, taking a hold of John's belt as he seemed to dig his feet into the dirt.
"I'm tryin'," John heard Ronon grunt.
Snorting, despite the pain he was in as his arms and hands began to ache something fierce, he gritted his teeth. "Well, try harder," he ground out.
"No-no-no, we proved this - it shouldn't be happening!" Rodney muttered, pacing.
John craned his neck to look at the man. "Well, it is! It's pulling me in!"
John dug his own feet in, scrabbling for purchase in the dirt covered floor. "It's too strong!" he heard Teyla exclaim.
Groaning as the pain got worse, Jophn turned his face away from the portal as he got closer and closer, doing what little he could to force his head away. As he was pulled through, he heard Rodney shout
"Don't touch the barrier!"
John honestly didn't know what to think as the portal pulled him in.
A-A-A-A-A-A
Cam was stood at the edge of the Tenoid Mech when she heard footsteps rushing into the room from the doorway a good few meters below and behind her. Holding a data–pad in one hand, the Tok'ra turned and leaned over the edge of the scaffolding that that been set up around the large machine and Cam frowned at the sight of a breathless Major Lorne at the feet of the machine, the man bent double as he struggled to breathe.
Panic settled into the Tok'ra and Cam groaned as she thrust her data–pad into the hands of a nearby translator before she raced to the built staircase and moved down them with the speed that only a Tok'ra host could show.
It might not be Martouf he is here to talk about, Kel'an told her calmly as Cam turned on one of the 'landings' and raced down the next flight of stairs. It might be that there is translation emergency somewhere else in the City.
Cam arched an eyebrow at that. And what, exactly, are the odds of that being true? she responded before sighing and vaulting over the railing around the staircase, easily landing and rolling on the floor a good ten feet below where she had jumped.
She moved to Lorne as slowly as her nerves would allow and she saw the man smirk slightly, even as his worried expression remained. "It's not your brother," he told her as he stood up straight, the man automatically settling into a formal, parade rest stance.
Cam breathed a sigh of relief as her panic subsided at his words. "Oh thank goodness," she breathed.
"It's the Colonel."
Her relief faded and her panic returned. "You had to say it, Lorne, didn't you," she muttered. "Why?"
The Major relaxed slightly and scuffed the toe of his shoe against the floor. "Dr. McKay was talking about some Ancient nearby where they were," he reported, "I thought that someone from Translations ought to go."
Cam sighed and ran a hand over her face tiredly before she reached for the earwig in her ear. A single tap brought the device online.
"Danny?" she asked.
"Whatcha need?" came the tired response from her friend.
Cam took a breath and steeled herself. Her friend was still recovering from the side effects of the Wraith Enzyme – something the Tok'ra believed would last only a few more short days before disappearing completely – but the red haired woman was going to fight her on what she was going to say next.
"I need you to get down to the Tenoid Mech room," she said firmly. "I need someone to take over while I go off–world. I know you're bored out of your mind. Get down here."
Without waiting from the anthropologist to respond, Cam quickly shut the earwig off, cutting off any possible retorts the woman had as she looked to Lorne.
"Ma'am?"
A-A-A-A-A-A
Rodney clutched at the seat of the Jumper almost desperately, his fingers somehow finding purchase as Camilla piloted the Jumper fast enough that the Canadian absently wondered if the woman had taken piloting lessons from Sheppard. The woman seemed to be able to eek speed and swiftness from the little ship, somehow managing to bypass several of the built–in safety mechanisms without causing the ship to implode.
Implode like the probe had done when they'd tried sending it through. Just the thought of what had happened to the probe sent shivers down Rodney's spine, despite the telemetry that the probe had sent out. Swallowing convulsively, Rodney searched for his voice for a few seconds.
"You sure we can't go any faster?" he asked, glancing to his right where he could see Carson clinging just as desperately to his seat as Rodney was.
Camilla didn't physically react to his question, her gaze locked on the landing point he'd asked the Jumper to highlight for her. "If I try and get more we'll be entering death as a very dear friends," she answered shortly. "I know I've already asked you this Rodney, but, Onak, why didn't you look at the video more closely?!"
Rodney shifted his grip, swallowing audibly as Camilla finally slowed down and carefully landed the Jumper. "Didn't see anything out of the ordinary," he answered as he finally let go of the seat, feeling his joints protest the sudden movement. "Don't think I'm not kicking myself already."
The woman stood, picking up her Staff Weapon from beside her and slipping into the holster strapped across her back, an eyebrow arched at him before she shook her head and nodded to the pilot that was in the co–pilot's seat.
"Let me take what needs to be taken, then you have control," she told him.
The pilot nodded mutely and Rodney noted calmly that the man's eyes were wide, showing a ring of white as he let go of the console in front of him. Staying back as Camilla walked passed him, he watched as the woman 'calmly' reached a hand up to brush the exposed metal of the Puddle Jumper seconds before the rear hatch hissed and opened, slowly revealing Martouf, Teyla and Ronon, the three moving into the Jumper as soon as the ramp was low enough.
Rodney nodded once and moved to carry what he could of the supplies that would last weeks when sent through the portal. He wasn't surprised to see Camilla and Martouf literally taking the lion's share, the two Tok'ra taking bags and settling multiple ones atop each other as they were slung over their backs while they calmly took small crates each and stacked them, holding the weight in front of them as they left the Jumper.
Ronon left soon after them, carrying four bags and a crate easily as he followed after the two Tok'ra. Teyla herself carried three bags, her hands clutching at the straps as she held them securely. Rodney moved to grab the last of the bags – two of them – slinging them over each shoulder as he grabbed the last, lightest, crate and left the Jumper, nodding to the new pilot.
The man would circle the crater from above, even as Rodney did his best to decipher the information he had on the three data–pads he'd downloaded the probe's telemetry onto. He followed after Teyla before he paused in his admittedly panicked thinking and did what little he could to calm his mind.
"Teyla!" he called to the Athosian woman who was a good foot or three in front of him. "How long did you put the camera through the barrier for?"
"Three seconds," she answered, slowing her pace slightly to look back at him. "There was twelve minutes of video when I brought it back out."
"You're sure?" he pressed her, his mind already gearing up for more information.
Instead of the mildly insulted look that he half expected the woman to have, she nodded, smiling. "Yes," she answered.
Rodney jogged slightly to catch up to her. "And there's twelve minutes of video?" he asked, making sure.
Teyla smiled and nodded, even as she drew to a halt by the cave entrance to the portal. "Yes," she told him. "I am sure."
Rodney nodded and set his crate down, the bags following soon after. "Alright," he muttered, his brain already doing the maths. "So it's a ratio of..."
"Two hundred and fifty to one," the Athosian supplied calmly and the scientist couldn't help but stare at the woman. "I sent my watch through." In testament to that, Rodney watched numbly as she set down her bags and picked up a long stick, her watch carefully tied in place at one end. "Along with a letter to Colonel Sheppard telling him we are doing our best to rescue him."
Rodney blinked in surprise, his mind finally supplying the corroborating numbers to match Teyla's. He would seriously have to rethink his classification of 'Xena' and 'Conan' when this current debacle was over.
"If you would like to check again," Teyla offered, her voice breaking through his thoughts and Rodney shook his head at the offered.
"No," he said. "That's good... uh good thinking."
He smiled slightly and watched as Carson turned from the cave entrance to look at him. "Jus' outta curiosity, wha' does tha' mean fer Colonel Sheppard?" the medical doctor asked. "In terms of... days?"
Rodney sighed, his mind taking the final step, calculating the time he'd spent getting everything together here and back in Atlantis and quickly multiplied the total hours by the ratio Teyla had given him. He carried the three, took two and sighed all in the space of a few seconds.
"We're already talking months," he answered.
He ignored the shocked expressions on both the Athosian and Carson as he picked up his load and moved into the cave. He didn't have the time to panic or worry, all he could do now was discover what the Ancients had done and get inside without killing anyone – lest of all Sheppard.
A-A-A-A-A-A
Cam placed her load of bags and crates down, carefully placing them in front of the portal before shoving them through with a well aimed push from her booted foot. The rubber of her sole barely grazed the portal as the end of the crate went through and she glanced up at her brother, seeing him mimicking her actions.
"Not a word," she told him, vaguely hearing Rodney and Teyla talking outside the cave. "A translator was needed and I'm not about to let one of my department do it when time is wasted by arguing."
Martouf chuckled as he moved back from the portal. "I was not about to argue with you," he said softly. "I had already assumed as much when I saw you in the Puddle Jumper."
Cam relaxed at that, feeling Kel'an forcibly loosening her shoulders. Work on translating, Camilla, she said softly, turning her host's gently towards the inscribed Ancient. You and Martouf can 'argue' later if that is what you wish.
Cam rolled her eyes as she moved to stand closer to the Ancient, her eyes taking in full sight of the Ancient. Kree shac, Kel', she thought. Kree shac. (Bite me, Kel'. Bite me.)
Kel'an chuckled in her mind. I would if I had the body to do so, she retorted. I won't ask Martouf to do so.
Cam bit back a groan. He's my brother! she snapped. I really wouldn't.
Kel'an chuckled again and the woman shook her head as she focused on the words, speaking them softly as she read them. As she spoke, she felt Kel'an relax her control over the Ancient knowledge – or more exactly her control over the damage it inflicted – and words quickly began to translate into Latin, then English.
"What's she doing?" she heard Ronon ask and Cam very nearly growled as her concentration was broken.
Instead, she ground her teeth and closed her eyes, controlling her irritation before she rolled her shoulders. "I was speaking the Ancient I can read in this inscription," she told him. "In a situation, like this, where time is of the essence, I can translate Ancient faster when I read it." She took a breath, calming her anger as much as she could as she looked over her shoulder at the Satedan, seeing the man stood with his sword strapped across his back, his blaster in its holster at his thigh. "When I first got the Ancient knowledge in my mind, I only received half... the half that meant I had to hear Ancient before I could be able to translate as others needed. Now, I have to halves in my mind, which makes translating a little easier."
She took another breath and turned her gaze back to the Ancient in front of her. "I will translate much faster without any interruptions," she said softly before she began reciting the Ancient again.
She started from the beginning, letting the words roll off her tongue as the Ancient knowledge began the work she desperately needed done. Slowly, words and sentences formed in Latin, the position of the words changing to match the grammar of the language before it changed once more, settling into English and changing once more to suit the final language.
A-A-A-A-A-A
Secure in the knowledge of where the power source for the barrier was, Rodney had just set aside the data–pad in question when he heard a soft cry of triumph from inside the cave, Camilla coming out seconds later, a weak smile on her face.
"I think I've got it," she said, her gaze flitting around to look at everyone.
Rodney glanced to Ronon, seeing the Satedan stood a few feet away, the man having moved there minutes earlier after having stepped inside the cave to talk with Camilla and her brother. Now, the sword wielding man perked up and moved closer.
"I'm taking a couple of linguistic liberties," Camilla admitted. "But from what I can understand, the field here was created as a sanctuary from the Wraith, but as a place where the Ancients could come and Ascend without having to worry about the Wraith."
Rodney nodded, understanding working with the rest of the information he had. "Of course," he breathed. "The Ancients could spend lifetimes inside the field before the Wraith even discovered the place."
"An' if they attacked, their ships would be torn apart like the probe," Carson added.
"And so it has remained for ten thousand years," Teyla breathed.
Camilla nodded at that, Rodney watched as she gestured for everyone to follow her back into the cave as she moved to point at a portion of the inscribed writing.
"This writing here, this serves as a welcome of sorts," she said, her eyes fixed on the Ancient. "As well as a warning for any of the Tau–... humans under their protection looking for sanctuary." She shook her head and looked back at them. "From what I can translate, it was left there for anyone who wanted to seek the path to Ascension on their own."
"And what's the warning?" Rodney heard Ronon ask calmly.
Camilla swallowed at that, looking back at the inscription for a moment before returning her focus to them. "That once you cross the threshold, there can be no return," she said.
A-A-A-A-A-A
Cam nodded to her brother as she followed after Ronon, sensing her brother only seconds behind her as she stepped through the barrier, automatically taking a few more before moving to the side. She frowned at the sight that greeted her.
Rodney had had a minute on her entry, but the man was sat quite comfortably against the cave wall, data–pad in hand as the others all stood or sat around the cave. Ronon was closest to her, the Satedan having apparently taken up position by the barrier while Teyla stood nearer to the apparent exit.
Cam raised a finger and pointed at Ronon. "Weren't you just...?" she began.
He nodded in answer. "Give it a few more minutes for your brother," he told her. "According to McKay the time changes in an instant."
The second you cross the threshold, the time dilation built into the barrier takes over, Kel'an breathed in awe. A second outside the barrier is a minute, a minute an hour.
Cam swallowed at that, shaking her head at the implications. She'd heard Rodney and Teyla talking about the maths that ruled the barrier and her mind was already taking the figures and running with them. True to Ronon's word a few minutes later, her brother stepped through and stared at everyone, shaking his head as he quickly understood what it had taken Ronon explaining to her to understand.
Rolling her shoulders, Cam watched as everyone stood up and checked they had everything before Ronon grunted. "Let's get moving," he said. "Sheppard's been here long enough."
A-A-A-A-A-A
Ronon moved ahead of the others, seven years a Runner having him taking point to protect the others. He knew it was probably useless and unnecessary, but the first few months he'd been a Runner had drilled the habit into him. And now, with a team as a form of family, he'd protect them, even if all he did was act as an early warning system for them.
The knee high grass was mildly annoying, hiding potential footfalls and dangers from him, but Ronon led the way, leading the way towards a steadily rising column of smoke he could see in the distance. The Satedan had been surprised when Camilla had walked out of the Jumper; in all honesty, Ronon had been expecting a member of her own team to have come instead, but the woman had translated a text faster than what he had thought possible, taking minutes instead of what Ronon could have taken nearly an hour.
"You know, I was just thinking," McKay began, "this entire field – I mean, not the field, I mean the field field – must generate its own day and night cycle, not to mention its own artificial climate." Ronon rolled his eyes at that, trying to focus on the sounds and smells around him, searching for anything out of the ordinary. "I mean, it's incredible! When you think–"
Ronon looked over his shoulder at the scientist. "You want to pick up the pace, McKay?" he asked, interrupting the man, even as he came to a stop by the trees, waiting for them to catch up.
The scientist snorted. "Hey, he's waited for months," he retorted. "Another half hour isn't going to kill him."
Camilla sighed then, even as Ronon turned to face the group, seeing the woman's brother at the back of the group, carrying a bag over one shoulder. "We don't know how long will take to find him, Rodney," she said. "We could potentially be here for months before finding him."
"Aye, and besides that, I have a date planned with Lieutenant Cadman for tomorrow night," Beckett added.
"Oh, no, so we've only got twelve years in here!" McKay retorted.
Ronon stopped when he saw Teyla pause, the woman dropping her case before raising a fist above her head. He calmly drew his blaster, holding it at the ready as he moved closer to Teyla.
"What? What is it?"
Ronon ignored the man, focusing on whatever Teyla had heard or sensed. A roar echoed from the trees in front of them as he sensed the others doing the same. Camilla and her brother placed their own burdens down as the drew their own weapons.
"I'm not detecting anything," McKay said after a moment.
Ronon shook his head at that. "Doesn't mean it isn't there," he told the man even as he glanced to Teyla. "Can you see anything?"
The Athosian took a few seconds before she shook her head. "No," she answered tersely. "But I sense something is close."
Camilla sighed at that. "If I thought we had the time I would suggest going another way," the Tok'ra said.
Ronon tensed at the sound of another roar, his hearing easily picking up on the fact that the source was closer now. Taking a breath, he flipped the switch on his blaster, hearing the weapon charging.
"Wouldn't make any difference," he commented to Camilla. "It's stalking us."
The woman sighed. "I was afraid of that."
Another roar and Ronon turned his head slightly as he heard it coming from a difference place. "Sounds like it's more than one," he heard Beckett comment from behind him.
"Yeah, more than one what?" McKay added and Ronon was aware of the small man drawing his own weapon and aiming it.
"I do not know," Teyla breathed.
Ronon didn't like the sound of that, but he liked the sight that appeared in front of him then a whole lot less. He reacted, firing automatically on the thing in front of him, moments before he felt something hit him and send him soaring backwards. Hearing gunfire as he slowly got back to his feet, Ronon watched, winded, as Teyla fired her P–90 on the thing, the others doing the same.
Taking a breath, Ronon holstered his gun quickly and drew his sword from the sheath across his back, watching as the bullets and the other weapons blasts went easily through the monster, nothing seeming to injure it as it turned and faded from being solid to not even there.
He charged at the monster, calling on his years as a Runner, ignoring the roar the thing gave him, even as he reached it and attacked. Slashes and cuts that should have killed it – or at the least injured it – passed straight through and Ronon found himself being shoved back again, this time landing hard on his back.
A-A-A-A-A-A
Seeing that the others weren't getting far, Cam looked to her brother, nodding once as she hefted her Staff Weapon. Kel'an groaned in her mind.
You aren't, she began.
Cam nodded once as she watched her brother. He was dropping his own weapon as he readied himself for what Cam knew was coming next, even as she switched her own weapon off.
I am, she answered. I hope you remember how we pulled this one off when we went up against those Jaffa.
A quick flash of the planet, the Ancient device aimed at the Stargate was all the answer she got from her symbiote as she found her body charging forwards towards her brother, the Tok'ra deftly catching her feet as she leapt at him. In a move they'd practiced only a few times, Martouf threw her into the air and over his shoulder, easily aiding in her vault towards the monster.
Swinging her Staff Weapon, Cam aimed for hitting the monster. Then, much like Ronon and the others, both her hit and her body went through the monster. Cam had only a moment's notice for her eyes to widen in surprise before she felt Kel'an curling her body into a roll. Before she could do anything other than uncurl on the ground, hearing the monster roaring once more, Cam heard footsteps racing towards her before launching over her.
She got her feet with a groan, hearing Kel'an doing the same in her mind. I could have told you that wouldn't work, she muttered. Now I have to deal with your right knee.
Standing up, Cam focused on everything going on around her, seeing an unfamiliar shape on top of the monster before it disappeared, the shape dropping to the ground with a groan. The female Tok'ra stood, holding onto her weapon, and she winced as her knee throbbed, loudly.
Point taken, Kel', she said quietly. Sorry...
A mirthless chuckled resounded in her mind, even as Cam watched Ronon getting to his feet, his sword standing, hilt up, in the long grass. The shape that had been on top of the monster stood slowly, groaning itself and Cam froze, recognising the sound.
"What the hell took you so long?!"
A grin split her face as she recognised the voice and Cam limped forwards to look at that man. Dressed in a simple white tunic and worn brown trousers, the only things that were reminiscent of the Colonel was his messy hair, his combat boots and the two holsters strapped to each leg where his hand gun and knife were kept.
"Not that you will believe us," she said, "you were gone for only a few short hours, John."
The man turned his head to look at her. His eyes looked older, enhanced by a beard Cam would have sworn was a good nine months old. He shook his head with a derisive snort.
"Try months!" he muttered.
Cam shook her head at that, glancing to Rodney. "You don't understand - you've been trapped in a time dilation field," the scientist told him.
The look of confusion on John's face wasn't unexpected to the female Tok'ra. "What?!" he asked.
"What was that bloody thing?"
Cam glanced at Carson, seeing another look of confusion, even as she heard John sigh beside her. "I don't know," he answered before he looked to Rodney. "What's a time dilation field?"
Cam shook her head at Rodney, seeing the man raising his hands to answer. "Is there somewhere safe where we can talk?" she asked John. "After being attacked now, I think getting somewhere safe is key right now."
Teyla groaned softly. "No," she breathed. "It is still close."
Cam gave her own groan and felt an itch in her knee. Kel' was speeding up her healing and the woman didn't know whether to feel grateful for it or not. A roar echoed in the air and Cam wordlessly switched her Staff Weapon back on, her eyes darting around the field for a few moments before settling on wavering spot in the grass only a few yards away. A look was all she needed to tell that the monster now stood well over fifty feet, easily reaching sixty, even seventy, feet tall.
Cam watched in awe as John calmly walked forwards, drawing the knife from it's sheath at his leg. Ronon was the next to move forwards, reaching out to grab his sword. One tug and the Satedan stood armed next to the Colonel.
"You've fought this thing before?" Ronon asked.
Cam didn't hear the answer as the others moved to take up positions beside the two, even as she noticed new people, dressed much like John appearing around her and Carson, the group calmly walking towards the monster, surrounding it calmly.
"John?" she called, drawing the man's attention. "Do you know these people?"
She watched as he turned to look at the people, the man's eyes widening at what he saw. One woman, dressed in a simple pale orange dress, stopped near John, her blue eyes focused on the monster, while another man moved to stand beside her.
"We've come to stand with you, whatever happens," the man said.
The woman shook her head, turning to look at John. "No," she said. "We've come to fight."
Before Cam could move forwards to protest, she watched the woman turn to look at the monster. "We are not afraid of you," she said, the monster roaring in defiance to her words. "The Beast is of our own creation, and it is long past time we sent it away."
Cam arched an eyebrow at that, looking to the monster that kept flitting in and out of view. That is some creation, she thought.
Kel'an hummed in her mind. That is something even the Goa'uld would rightly fear, her symbiote answered, her own tone awed.
The female Tok'ra watched as the woman nodded to the other man before all the villagers moved to stand in a circle around 'the Beast'. As the circle was completed, Cam groaned and clapped her hands to her ears as the Beast gave an almighty scream before fading from view.
Cam took a breath and stared at the other men and women, seeing a glow surrounding them all. "Well..." she breathed.
It looked as though they had Ancients to deal with.
A-A-A-A-A-A
Danny sat down with a heavy sigh in Camilla's quarters, taking the bottle of water her friend tossed to her. The anthropologist hated how her body ached still with the after–effects of the Wraith enzyme. It had been a while and even though she wasn't a drug addict, Danny was seriously contemplating going and finding a Wraith to ease the pain in her body.
Shaking her head sharply to dislodge that thought, she watched as her friend sat down with a heavy sigh next to her. The blonde haired woman lifted her right foot onto the coffee table in front of them both, her head falling back with some obvious relief.
"Am I interrupting something?" Danny teased the younger woman.
Camilla snorted softly before she lifted her head and looked at her. "Not anything that can't be postponed," she retorted before sighing again. "Carson gave you and John checkups."
Danny nodded, running a hand through her red hair. "I've gone one more with the good doctor before I'm cleared," she answered before she sighed herself. "You want to know..."
Camilla nodded slightly at that. "I need to," she answered. "We're friends... I need to know to make sure this City is safe."
Danny sighed and focused on the humming in her ears. Well, more specifically her mind. She hadn't been in the Infirmary all that long, but she'd heard enough.
"Sheppard's still a little rattled," she told her friend tiredly. "Those people on the planet shook up his way of thinking some. He spent almost a year there, he thought he'd been abandoned."
Camilla winced and Danny felt bad for speaking the truth. "And what did he tell Carson?" she asked.
Danny smirked at that. "Said nothing other than it felt good to be home," she replied. "Grinning like a loon all the way."
The female Tok'ra nodded at that. "He didn't...?"
Danny understood where her friend was coming from but was unwilling to voice. "Didn't see me or feel me poking around," she said. "You and your brother are the only two lucky ones to know that."
She watched as her friend rubbed absently at her temple and Danny quickly pushed the humming to the back of her mind, out of her conscious thoughts. "Sorry," she offered.
Camilla shook her head tiredly. "We joke about you being Hok'tar," she muttered, "but it's as much of a curse for you as Ancient Knowledge is for me."
Danny shook her head, reaching out to grip her shoulder. "We joke because it's easier than screaming in frustration at Nirrti's actions," she said softly, "and I wouldn't change the past for being able to help you."
Camila smiled weakly then. "Only you would turn that Shol'va's actions into something good," she said. "Thank you Danny."
The anthropologist blushed at the praise for the first time in years and shrugged a shoulder. "If it can be used for more than learning Ancient," she began, "all you have to do is ask."
Camilla nodded tiredly. "I know, Danielle," she breathed. "Thank you for helping me."
"Life is but a day" ― John Keats
"There is more to life than simply increasing its speed." ― Mahatma Gandhi
"We make our own monsters, then fear them for what they show us about ourselves." ― Mike Carey
Response to reviews/reviewers:
Incognito: Liked? I found them surprisingly accurate to the undertone of the chapter you suggested them for. Thanks again for them!
In response to your comment about 'Hok'tar', I had originally meant it as more of an in-joke for Camilla and Danny, but I have had a plot kicking around in the background for Danny to be a Hok'tar. A little refinement on the idea and you get what you read at the end of the chapter here. Also, in response to your question about Ford, originally I hadn't even thought on that possibility, but when I read your review, you managed to get a gear to slowly grind over the idea. I do agree with you that they could have done more, even it had just been John and the others coming across an old hide-out and going through what records Ford kept and having more in-depth flashbacks into what happened to him. Ah well... I'll figure something out eventually.
Thanks for the hope, but I think it's going to stick around for a little while longer. For some sick reason it doesn't impact my novel plot, but takes delight in kicking me around with TiA and varous other fan fics I've got bouncing around.
2016 - April 30th EDIT: I would like to thank the user Anthropos Agnostos for the quotes used in this chapter.
It would really be a help if a review was dropped - even just a one word one would be good - to let me know what you all think of this chapter. I should have another chapter up soon, but... Well... Thanks for reading.