"They could be anywhere by now," Sheppard muttered angrily.
It was just as well that they'd left to begin the search immediately upon recovering full use of their limbs and faculties. If they hadn't, he felt reasonably sure that he would have killed every last one of the rebels himself, just as the others might have done - especially Teal'c. He took a moment to look around at the other teams who had assembled in record time to assist in the search. He allowed himself a brief moment to feel the sense of pride and kinship he held for all of them.
"We can't afford to miss anything," Caldwell said.
"No we can't," Sheppard agreed. "We have no way of knowing where she took them from here - how many planets she might have jumped trying to cover her tracks.."
Mitchell looked over at Logan, who was standing atop a rise about ten yards away. He knew she was barely holding it together, so she could find her children. White hot rage churned in his gut as he thought about all the missing children, most especially Chelsea and Nicolas. He loved those kids as if they were his own. It killed him to think about the pain Logan and Sheppard were feeling, not knowing where their children were, but knowing that the Genii were holding them.
"Logan?"
She started when he called to her. "Cam..."
"We'll find them," he assured her.
"I know. We HAVE to."
"I promise you... they WILL pay for this," he said.
She turned to look up at him, fire in her eyes. "I know that, too."
"Okay, Major Lorne and two teams will stay to search the planet by jumper. The rest of us will move on and spread out as necessary," Caldwell said.
"Understood," Sheppard said, motioning to Lorne to carry out the General's order.
"Let's move!" called Caldwell from his position at the gate.
Logan and Mitchell hurried down the rise and streaked through the gate. Lorne and the other teams piled into jumpers and split up to search the planet. Once the gate was clear, the ground seemed to open up and a young couple emerged from an underground tunnel. The man was carrying a vigorously squirming bundle in his arms. His hand had been clamped over the boys' mouth to prevent him from calling out to the ones who'd just left. He had to release his hold on the boy's mouth so he could dial the gate and the boy immediately started to scream.
"LET ME GO!" he screamed at them.
"You will not be harmed, boy, but it is not safe to remain here. Those people would harm all of us if we stayed," the man said.
"Those were my parents!" Sam yelled.
"You tell falsehoods, young one."
"My father will kill you for this!" Sam screamed again.
"Hush boy!" the man snapped as the gate activated.
Sam started squirming even more, kicking and trying to flail his arms, desperately trying to free himself from the man's grasp. In the distance, he could see one of the jumpers turn and head back toward the gate just as the wormhole engaged. They must have seen it.
"Let me go!" he landed one hard kick squarely on the man's shin, causing him to stumble and fall to one knee.
He instinctively let go of the boy to catch himself as he fell and Sam took full advantage of the opportunity to escape. He ran toward the apporaching jumper as fast as he could, but the man caught up to him and lifted him off his feet. Throwing the boy over his shoulder, he held his legs tightly to keep him from kicking him again. Sam rained ineffectual blows across the man's back but it wasn't enough to make him let go.
"NOOOOO!" he cried as they crossed the event horizon before the jumper could reach them.
UNKNOWN PLANET
"They have taught her well, for one so young," he observed.
"She does seem very protective of him, doesn't she?" Vanu smiled in amusement.
"See the way she holds him, though she is scarcely older than he is?" Mertahn asked.
"Indeed. It is rather charming," she admitted.
"You have put us in great danger, Vanu."
"You have always wanted a son, husband, now you have one. And a daughter."
"Yes. I wonder, did you stop to think about what kind of life we can give them? We will be hunted across the galaxy."
"They will never find us. Do you disagree with what I have done? You hate them as well, do you not?" Vanu asked.
"I do, mostly for the pain they have caused you. I will support you, Vanu, and I will raise these as my own, but my eyes are wide open. Our life will not be as easy as you imagine."
Vanu smiled arrogantly. "The ease with which I obtained the children tells me otherwise, Mertahn. They are not nearly as formidable as we have been led to believe."
"Perhaps. But you caught them unawares. They will not make the same mistakes again," he warned her.
"You worry overmuch."
"I think not, wife, but we are now in this together and we will make the best of it. They are indeed fair children, and appear to be quite bright for tiny ones. They will make a fine addition to our family."
"I thought you would be pleased," she smiled. "Come, let us begin schooling them in our ways. The girl must be taught obedience first."
Vanu crossed the room and Chelsea instinctively tightened her grasp around her baby brother. "NO!" she said defiantly, glaring at the woman.
"You will learn your place, girl. One way or another," Vanu smiled.
UNKNOWN PLANET II
Hope rubbed her arm where they had pricked her with a needle to take her blood for testing. She wondered how much they would take before she had none left to give. She couldn't remember ever feeling so... angry... before. She resented feeling so helpless. She'd thought she might have a chance to escape once they turned their backs for long enough, but these people were not about to trust anyone with Wraith blood in them, no matter how small the amount. They kept her tied up always, whether they were present or not. It gave her a small amoutn of satisfaction to instill even a little fear in them, as they had done to her. Hope looked longingly at the window across the room. If only she could get free of the ropes that bound her.
"Very interesting indeed," the woman murmured as she turned toward Hope. "You are definitely more human than Wraith."
"I know," Hope replied disdainfully.
"Do you know also how this came to be?" she asked.
"No."
"A pity. It would make my work so much easier... On the both of us," she said pointedly.
"When my parents come for me you will wish you never laid eyes on me."
"I told you, little one, your parents won't be coming for you; they are dead."
"I do not believe you."
"I do not care if you believe me or not. You will never leave this place."
Hope turned away, trying not to lose faith. Her parents WOULD come. She knew it down deep in her soul. Her father's anger would be a force to behold, as would her mothers'. These people would not know what hit them when her parents found them.
K3R-472
Lorne dialed the coordinates they'd seen on the DHD before the couple disappeared through the wormhole with Samuel Caldwell. He couldn't afford to stop even long enough to send a message to Weir or Caldwell. Not if he wanted to catch up to the boy before they could disappear to yet another world. He drove the jumper through the gate and immediately began scanning for life signs as soon as they cleared the other side.
His efforts were rewarded when they got a solid lock on three life forms in close proximity to the gate. As soon as the wormhole shut down, he had Fowler dial the gate to prevent them from escaping to anywhere other than where THEY wanted the three to go. If they bolted for the gate, they would wind up right at the search team's front door. The couple stayed hidden in the thick brush near the stargate, hoping that would provide them enough cover to elude their pursuers.
"I TOLD you!" Sam said victoriously.
"Who are you... really?" the man asked.
"Sam," he replied.
"What is your homeworld, boy?" the man demanded.
Sam kept his mouth shut, knowing it was important for him to keep quiet about where he was from.
"Where are you from?" the man shouted.
"I won't tell you anything!" Sam shouted defiantly.
"I have seen those ships before..."
"Where?" asked the woman.
"They are Lantean," he informed her.
They looked again at Sam, the horror of their situation dawning on them.
"You are... Lantean?" asked the woman.
Sam still refused to answer, but struggled to bite back a smile.
"We are deceived!" the man said. "This is no mere orphan... Vanu has deceived and betrayed us!"
"Why?"
"The two she kept with her... She must have known they would come after her. The others... they were a ruse... a smokescreen to buy her time to escape and hide!"
"What do we do?" she asked, clearly terrified now.
"We let him go... Maybe that is all they want... Maybe they will simply take him and go."
Sam smiled. "Don't bet on it," he muttered under his breath.
The man released him but Sam, instead of running away, merely walked a few leisurely paces away and waited. He saw the jumper land at the edge of the brush and began waving his arms around to catch their attention. The man and woman watched him in horror, realizing what he was trying to do. It didn't take Lorne and his men long to reach the boy, who was all too happy to be swept safely into Lorne's strong arms. He immediately pointed to where the couple was hiding and the chase was on. Lorne's team easily caught up and cornered them.
"We didn't know!" the woman screamed.
"We were deceived!" the man said.
"We had no idea he was Lantean... We were told his parents were dead..."
Lorne ordered them bound and taken back to the jumper.
"Where's my dad?" Sam asked.
"He's out looking for you and your brother and sister," Lorne told him.
"They were stolen too?" Sam gasped, horrified.
"I'm afraid so, buddy. But we're gonna find them, just like we found you. Is it true what they said about being lied to?"
"I dunno... They were talking about someone named Vanu and they did say that she lied to them so she could get away with two others... Does she have my brother and sister?"
"I'm not sure, buddy... She took David, Hope, Chelsea, Nic, Torus and Riley, too."
"Why?" he asked sadly.
"I don't know, buddy. I guess she wanted to hurt your parents and taking all you kids was the best way for her to do that."
"She didn't hurt them, did she? She didn't shoot them or anything?" he asked fearfully.
"No! No, not at all, Sam. They're all fine... They're just missing you guys, so let's hurry up and get you back, shall we?"
"Yes sir," Sam grinned and wrapped his arms around Lorne's neck.
K3R-472
"Say again?" Caldwell blinked down at his wife.
"I said we have Sam here, General. Major Lorne was able to retrieve him not long after you left the first planet you were on. He's safe and Dr. Beckett is checking him out as we speak."
Lyta hugged her husband as she listened to the news from New Lantea.
"That's good news... He is... He's okay, right?" Caldwell asked.
"He seems just fine, General. He's a very brave boy," Weir smiled.
"Yes... He is. Thank you Doctor. Please... Please explain to him why we can't come back just yet?" Caldwell asked.
"He understands. He knows his brother and sister are still out there and he wants you and Lyta to bring them home," Weir informed them.
"We will... Tell him we will... And that we love him," Lyta told her.
"Will do. Weir out."
Caldwell gave his wife one more squeeze and then turned to face the others. His relieved smile was short lived as his mind centered on the two children he still had out there, as well as the other three still missing.
"One down, five more to go," Logan nodded.
"Right. And we will bring them home... ALL of them."
"Where to now, sir?" Sheppard asked anxiously.
"We need to finish the search here... Talk to everyone we can find and then root out the ones we can't see. Split up into teams of two and cover every inch of this place."
UNKNOWN PLANET
Hope kept a careful eye on her captors through the window as she quietly extricated herself from the chains that bound her. Once she'd been able to grab some of the paper from the table, she'd made quick work of chewing it up and pressing it into the locking mechanism on the chains. It worked almost as well as the chewing gum her father snuck her occasionally. And it kept the lock from clasping. Once free of her restraints, she grabbed her teddy bear and silently crept out the back door.
She stayed low to the ground and close to the surrounding vegetation and soon made her way to the stargate. She waited a while to make sure no one else was around and then ran for the DHD. She dialed as fast as she could while still keeping an eye out for anyone who might be close by. She was very near tears when the wormhole engaged and she ran for the event horizon.
Suddenly, out of no where, a man streaked out of the trees and tried to block her way. Hope gave her bear one good squeeze and darted out of the man's grasp. But, just as she neared the gate, he caught her by the foot and held on tight, causing her to trip and fall face forward. Her bear flew from her grasp and into the event horizon. Hope kicked and twisted, pummeling the man with all her might, but he did not release his grasp on her. She looked back in dismay as the wormhole disengaged, finally surrendering to the tears that had been threatening to come for days.
Alarms were blaring in New Lantea as a small teddy bear came flying through the now open gate. The signal had been unmistakeable. Weir hurried across the room when the gate shut down and picked up the furry traveler. She looked bleakly over at the control room.
"Did you get it?" she asked.
"Yes ma'am, we got it!" came the ecstatic reply.
"Let's get ahold of Teal'c and Teyla now!" she ordered, hugging the bear to her. "Hold on Hope."
"Are you certain?" came Teyla's anxious question.
"It's hers alright. She probably couldn't get to the gate herself and tossed it through to help us find her."
"We are on our way," Teal'c said grimly.
When the gate shut down, Teal'c dialed the new coordinates and they all rushed through, weapons drawn and ready.
Hope had been dragged back to the lab, kicking and screaming the entire time. They finally gagged her and were preparing to inject her with a sedative when Teal'c kicked in the door. His face was a mask of anger as he took in the sight before him.
"Release her!" he ordered.
The two held their ground, unwilling or unable to move.
"Release her or I will kill you where you stand!" he growled menacingly.
The man released his grip on Hope and stepped back a pace, his eyes wide with fear.
"Step away," Teyla shouted, an equally murderous expression on her face.
"Don't you know what she IS?" the woman asked.
Teyla leveled an angry gaze at her. "She... is our daughter, and we have come to take her home!"
"Your daughter!" the woman looked disgusted.
"She is Wraith... An abomination..."
"Be silent woman!" Teal'c ordered.
Teyla moved forward and began to undo the chains that bound her daughter. As she removed the gag from Hope's mouth, Hope let out a mournful wail.
"Mama!" she cried, throwing her arms around Teyla.
Suddenly, the man lunged for Teyla and Hope, a dagger in his hand. Before he could reach them, Teal'c brought him down with a single shot to the head, then pointed his gun at the woman.
"You KILLED him!" she cried. "Over a WRAITH?!"
"And I will do the same to you if you, too, fail to cooperate." he warned.
Teyla lifted Hope in her arms and carried her out of the room, Lyta following her.
"Where are the other children?" Teal'c asked.
"What children?" she replied.
"Those who were stolen along with my daughter," he said.
"More Wraith?" she asked.
"No," Caldwell said, stepping in.
"I have no idea what you're talking about. That one was the only child we were offered..."
"For the purpose of?" Caldwell asked.
"Experimentation," Logan hissed angrily, pointing out the contents of the room.
"You conducted experiments on my daughter?" Teal'c asked, anger clouding his face again.
"We were told she was orphaned... Abandoned by her kind..."
"Told by whom?" Caldwell asked.
"One called Vanu. She mentioned no other children. You have your Wraith spawn - Now take it and GO!" she yelled.
"Tread softly woman, for I would just as soon shoot you than hear your wretched voice. Do not expect that we will simply leave you here after what you have done!" Teal'c shouted at her.
Caldwell called for restraints and had the woman bound for transport back to New Lantea. There she would face tougher interrogation than they had time for here.
Teyla accompanied Hope back to New Lantea where she could be examined by Beckett and made to feel safe again. Teal'c held her for a few moments before letting her go with her mother, just to assure himself that she was truly okay. Once they were safely away he turned his attention back to the search for the other children.
The others had already begun turning the village upside down in an effort to find the still missing children, or at least some clue to where they might be. Sheppard found Logan sitting on a boulder just outside the edge of the village. She was staring off into the distance. He called out her name, but she didn't appear to hear him. He reached out and touched her on the shoulder, causing her to jump about a foot off the boulder.
"Hey, easy Sparks, it's just me..." he cooed.
Logan buried her face in his chest and took a few deep breaths. Sheppard wrapped his arms securely around her and simply held her. He knew all of her unspoken fears, and shared every one of them.
"They aren't doing that to Nic or Chels, baby... They only did it to Hope because of her Wraith blood."
Logan nodded but didn't say anything.
"We'll find them, Sparks, I promise you."
"I know, John... And when we do... Just promise me you won't stop me from killing that b*tch!" she said fiercely.
Sheppard looked down at her, hate and fear and anger in her eyes. It tore further at his already anguished heart to see her this way.
"I won't stop you," he promised.
"I won't either," Caldwell said from behind them.
Logan turned to face him, seeing the same feelings mirrored in his eyes for his own children. Before she could say anything, a woman came running down the path toward them. They watched her approach, guns drawn and raised, until she stopped before them.
"Please... I want to help," she said.
"Help how?" Caldwell demanded.
"I have...information..."
"What kind of information?" Sheppard asked.
"My husband and I... we were approached by someone offering orphaned children..." she said.
"Someone?" Caldwell prodded.
"I... it didn't sound right to me, so we... turned her down."
"Her? It was a woman?" Logan asked.
"Yes... Her name was Fauni. She said her friend worked with orphaned children, to help them find homes."
"And you didn't believe her?" Caldwell asked.
"It wasn't just that... She seemed... strange, somehow... Almost afraid and too eager."
"Where is this Fauni now?" Logan asked.
"She is not of this world, but I will give you the address of where we met her. I... I hope this helps you find your children..."
UNKNOWN PLANET
Torus looked into the eyes of the fourth boy who approached him in two days. They all wanted their freedom as much as he did! He had to wonder, however, if he was being set up. He really had no way of knowing whether or not any of them could be trusted. They COULD be Genii, for all he knew. He hadn't told them yet, about the plan he was working on, just in case any of them were spying on him for Farmer Butthead, as Torus affectionately referred to him.
In all fairness to the other boys, however, the ruthless farmer treated them at least as badly as he treated Torus, so he'd decided to err on the side of hope rather than caution. Once he had a definite plan worked out, he would begin to bring the other boys in on it.
UNKNOWN PLANET II
Young David was faring much better than his parents dared to hope. The couple who took him in already loved and cherished him after only a few days. David, of course, was not buying into it, he simply wanted his real parents back, but these people were nice enough, and they treated him like a prince. There was nothing he could do for himself but sit and wait for his parents to come and get him.
UNKNOWN PLANET III
Eagin smiled through the doorway at the sight of Tais rocking the sleeping child. She was indeed a beautiful girl, and would only grow more beautiful each day. At heart, she was a sweet child, though she cried often and could throw one whopper of a tantrum when she wanted to. Usually when one of them tried to explain that her parents were gone and would not be coming back, or if they tried to take her stuffed teddy, as she called it, away from her.
Tais had gotten a little better at changing the subject rather than trying to push the matter. She would come around in time, and come to love them as her new parents. They just needed to be patient. He was a bit concerned about the little information they'd been able to get from her. They knew her name was Riley and that someone, presumably her father, had been a military man somewhere - a General, she'd said.
She continued to insist that she had not one, but two brothers and an Uncle (they assumed that was what she meant by "Unca") named Shep, who was apparently very good with guns. It was this Uncle who gave him pause, rather than her father, whom he knew to be deceased. If this Uncle decided that he wanted to raise his niece after all, he might be forced to fight for the child. He was no military man, by any means, but he would fight anyone who tried to take the child from them, Uncle or no. He was confused about the brothers she mentioned, as well. He'd been led to believe that Riley had no family left. Perhaps she had brothers at one point but had lost them in addition to her parents. It did not even occur to him that he and Tais had been misled about her situation.
