Unchartered Territory

Medran halted in mid-step, turned and nearly collided with the Major behind him. He shuffled the weight of the unconscious girl in his arms. There was a faint sheen of sweat on his forehead, but his face was impassive.

"We must turn another way."

Carter had regained her balance, but not her poise.

"Are you insane? That way leads back into the ship. We have to get to the airlock and meet up with the others."

It was only a matter of time before the Ousters figured out that their loot had been taken.

But Medran remained firm. "O'Neill will not be there. We must go. Now."

"How do you know this?" Carter was stared down by his impossibly blue eyes.

"There is no time," he whispered urgently. "Do you choose to believe me?"

She nodded reluctantly, and he turned to Yeroon tugging at his sleeve.

"Are you certain?" the girl asked in a small voice.

A smile broke free on his face, only to disappear instantly.

"Go with Teal'c. I will be back."

He placed Lestarta's body into the Jaffa's arms and briefly watched the small group hasten along the gangway before he pulled Carter in the opposite direction. They raced down the corridor, delving deeper into the bowels of the ship, following ever smaller passages only to duck back out into the main corridor framing the hull, often within ear shot but always out of sight of the raiders. Carter would have liked to ask the Escuvaran how he knew when to dodge out of the passage or how he knew his way in the maze of the Ouster vessel, but she was too winded. She only knew she had been right to trust him when she heard the sound of the raiders' plasma guns.

"They're in there."

The Escuvaran nodded towards a door besieged by at least a dozen Ousters, most of them in full body armour. Their weapon fire left deep singe marks, and the door shook harder with each bolt of green lightning.

He gripped her arm and whispered: "Can you immobilise them? All of them?"

Carter pulled a grenade from her pack and motioned for Medran to lower his visor. The Escuvaran's eyes widened, but the obeyed. The grenade rolled into the corridor, spraying grey fumes among the Ousters. One of them shouted a warning and took a shot at the grenade. It fractured and released its gas in a cloud of coughs and yells. One by one, the raiders dropped to the ground, motionless. Carter and Medran carefully picked their way across the fallen aliens. The door shuddered to a halt with a tired hiss and they squeezed into the room, trailing wisps of gas.

Medran rushed forward, but the smile on his face froze when he saw Ellen, one hand on Daniel's arm, the other raised in mid-conversation. He bowed awkwardly in her direction. "Escuvar is pleased to find you well."

"Escuvar is going to be a lot less pleased if we don't out of here right now." O'Neill muttered. "Carter, what took you so long?"

The corridors were deserted, and they hurried on in strained silence. At the airlock, they were greeted by Yeroon. She ran towards Medran, relief plain on her young face.

"It's all clear…"

Medran raised his zat and swung around in one smooth motion, aiming behind him as if to shoot at the team. Jack jerked forward, but the shot was fired before he had time to react. Behind them, an Ouster crumpled to the floor.

"Nice shot." The Colonel padded Medran on the back and walked past him to the umbilical.

"Yeroon saw him, not I," Medran answered absently. His eyes were on the girl. "I believe I instructed you to wait in the ship," he said sharply and pulled her towards the umbilical.

A war whoop, piercing and shrill, cut through the air. Medran straightened to his full height and turned. From the last junction behind them, a dozen Ousters led by a single tall figure marched towards the airlock. They wore full body armour but no helmets. Their presence was so overwhelming they didn't need to raise their weapons.

"I think perhaps we should go now…"

Medran cut the archaeologist off with a single gesture. He moved to the front of the group, meeting the raiders head-on. Their leader brought the party to a halt. She had the same tall build that all Escuvaran's seem to share, high cheekbones and the same cobalt blue eyes. As the other Ousters they had seen, her black hair was braided into neat corn rows. No outward sign of authority distinguished her from the group of warriors behind her, but every fibre of her body spoke of pride and leadership.

For a few long heartbeats, Medran waited. Then he bowed, almost imperceptibly. In the silence that followed, the Ouster leader returned the gesture. Her blue eyes flared, and she turned abruptly. Her men followed her down the corridor, their progress silent except for the sound of their feet on the grey scaly floor.

Medran walked to the umbilical, seemingly unhurried.

"Now we leave."

He pushed Yeroon through the lock in front of him.

"You negotiated a truce with the Ousters is less than 20 seconds?" Jack asked again. "Come on. What happened? I mean what really happened."

The Escuvaran allowed himself a small smile. "The pleasures of telepathy, Colonel O'Neill."

Yeroon bundled into him as he entered the ship, but Medran held her at arms' length.

"Why did you leave your place on the ship?"

The girl seemed puzzled. "But you needed help to…"

Medran shook his head and said firmly: "My personal wishes are not your concern, Yeroon. They are private and must remain so."

"But you said…" she began to cry.

"I am pleased to find you well, Yeroon." Medran pulled her into his arms, and she sobbed. "They hit Lestarta, and… and…"

The Escuvaran stroked her hair, holding her tight. He meet Ellen's gaze and she turned away suddenly, asking Teal'c after the unconscious girl resting in the ship's sick bay. She left to check on the Lestarta, followed by the young archaeologist.

For a few seconds, Medran fell silent, but then resumed his soothing noises. He had gone a long way to lose someone.

"Are you sure those folks aren't going to come back to you?" Jack turned back from the gate, but the Escuvaran shook his head.

"I am certain, O'Neill. The truce we have established will hold. But there may be friendly visits in the future…"

His gaze fell on Ellen talking to Daniel by the dialling device. The Colonel suppressed a sigh. He couldn't vouch for the telepathy stuff, but as far as he knew Ellen and Medran hadn't exchanged a single word since their return from the nebula.

"Speaking of visits, you're welcome to come to earth any time you like, catch up with old friends…"

For a moment it seemed as if the Escuvaran hadn't heard him. When he spoke, his voice was barely more than a whisper. "That won't be necessary, O'Neill."

They were joined by Airtor and the girls, and Medran lapsed into silence as the village elder spoke of her gratitude. A light rain began to fall, and in the distance a rainbow formed in the hazy sunshine above the village. O'Neill shuffled his feet significantly. In his opinion, if a planet consistently crapped on him that was a sign.

Medran gently interrupted the elder. "They know of our gratitude, Airtor. It is our loss that we do not see that or we could save our breath."

Airtor took her leave with a last promise of future assistance should it ever be required, and the girls skipped back to the village ahead of her. Lestarta cast one last fluttering glance across her shoulder, and Jack was glad the ordeal on the ship hadn't knocked the sense of mischief out of her. Teal'c began the dialling sequence and the shimmering plane of the event horizon formed in the circumference of the gate.

"You should talk to her," Jack murmured.

"Really?" Medran momentarily brightened, but fell back into his depression.

O'Neill gave him a push and the tall man stumbled forward. Daniel looked up from his conversation with Ellen.

"Oh. Hi."

For a moment it seemed as if the Escuvaran had lost the power of speech.

"I wish to speak with Ellen," he finally managed.

He waited until Daniel was out of ear shot, painfully aware of the Colonel's eyes boring into his back.

"Would you join me on a small walk?" he asked.

She shrugged and they moved to the edge of the clearing. Medran cleared his throat nervously. "I wanted to wish you well on your journey."

She looked at him, the grass at his feet, the forest dripping in rain behind him.

"I hope you will find what you are looking for," Medran ploughed on.

"What if I've already found what I'm looking for?" she asked.

The Escuvaran's face turned a shade paler. "Then I congratulate you." He gestured towards the gate where Sam and Teal'c were swallowed up by the blue wormhole. "Your path will be a happy one."

"And if what I'm looking for isn't through the gate, but here? On Escuvar?" Colour rose into her cheeks, but she held his gaze.

"Not there but… here?"

She nodded, blushing fiercely.

O'Neill watched the Escuvaran reach out and gingerly pull Ellen into a deep embrace.

"Time to go home, Danny-boy."

He looked back at the clearing glistening in the sunlight. "Shame we couldn't fix that link thingy."

"I don't think it needs fixing, Jack." Daniel stepped through the gate.

The End

Oh, here we go… The dreaded Author's Note:

Come on, folks. I know you're reading this, and I'm getting desperate here. Could somebody please let me know what they're thinking?

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