(iv)
Ronon shuffled himself out of the way and watched frustrated while Amelia put up the tent and set up the heating unit. Then she dragged what firewood was left into a pile about five feet in front of the tent, picking up what loose twigs and branches she found along the way.
Finally she sat in the tent's entrance and started tapping away at her tablet.
Puzzled but willing to wait until she was ready to explain herself Ronon reached over to the back pack and found himself a cereal and raisin bar, trying not to wish for a repeat of his mammoth and more importantly hot breakfast. There were times on Atlantis where he perversely missed the outdoor life, but he'd become accustomed to three or sometimes four square meals a day, plus snacks.
Taking a big bite he dropped the remainder in his lap and checked the power level and function of his pistol again. The power cell wasn't showing any signs of depletion which was good.
A weird sensation filled his head, bizarrely his ear drums felt almost… itchy. A tiny, soft grunt from Amelia made him look her way, she was screwing up her face, shaking her head slightly as if she was being bothered by an insect.
She pressed something on the tablet and the uncomfortable sensation vanished.
"What was that?"
"I hope it's an animal deterrent," her eyes met his ruefully, "shame it has to be so irritating to humans as well. It's a very high frequency pulse inaudible to humans but I hope painful to dog like animals. At least," she looked worried, "if they were German Shepherd's they'd be running for the hills."
Ronon cocked his head on one side "German Shepherds?"
Amelia's eyes twinkled, "Sorry, yes, dogs. Not the Germanic branch of the Colonel's family."
Ronon didn't have the faintest idea what Germanic referred to but didn't see the point in pursuing it. "If it keeps them away it's worth it."
Amelia nodded, "I know, but it makes my skin crawl. Plus," she gave the tablet an assessing look, "to pump it out at an adequate volume through the tiny speakers on this thing," she looked up and met his eyes squarely, "I'm worried about power consumption and burning out the components, the tablet's not designed for this."
Ronon shrugged and looked up at the sky, the light was draining away and the fresh green of the trees was fading into shadows. He checked the power cell on his pistol yet again and removed a knife from his belt, placing it at his right hand. "Time to light the fire."
Amelia nodded brusquely and shuffled back from the wood pile, Ronon levelled his pistol then paused, "Do you still have your club?"
Amelia reached behind her and brought out a sturdy tree branch weapon from inside the tent. "I had to go shopping for a new one," she said with mordant humour.
Something in Ronon's stomach clenched, pushing the sensation away he levelled his pistol again and fired.