Promises Made, Chapter 5
They've been walking non-stop since leaving the Grand Commander's house. Elizabeth guesses that it's now around mid-day, although it's hard to see the sun in the dense forest. The Inbi promises that she will not be harmed do little to reassure her. It's hard to trust your captors when they have you marching away from your friends at gunpoint. Her feet ache and she could really use some food. Only reciting one of the many lessons her father taught her keeps her going.
Weirs don't give up.
Elizabeth is the only daughter of a career Navy man. She was born 8 years after her brothers, a happy accident. Her mother and two older brothers doted on the new addition to their family. Her father, not knowing how to raise a daughter, had showed his love in the only way he knew how – by treating her no differently than his sons. She was taught to shoot, climb, and fight. Anything that her father or the other officers on base would teach her. Sheppard would probably be surprised to learn she still knew how to fast rope from a helicopter.
Growing up, Elizabeth had done everything she could to please her father. Up until she was thirteen, her one goal in life was to become the first woman accepted into the Navy Seals. Her father, open-minded for a military man, fully supported her goal.
All that changed when her oldest brother Michael, already a Navy Seal, was killed on a secret military exercise. They never got his body back and were never told where or why he died. The flag draped coffin was filled with Michael's favorite possessions and mementos of a life cut short. Elizabeth didn't cry at the funeral, not even as her mother was handed the folded American flag.
The tears didn't come until after Marcus, her other brother, joined the Navy Seals the following year. She hated the military then and, by extension, her father for not teaching her and her brothers about the true cost of war. Things were never the same after that. Her mother never understood the rift that now separated her once close-knit family.
Elizabeth eventually applied and was accepted for early admission into Harvard, not Annapolis. She didn't reconcile with her father until her mother's sudden death from an aneurysm a year after she graduated from college. Marcus, now in the CIA, could not get away to come to the funeral. Her father, so stoic at her brother's funeral, broke down in her arms and cried at the unfairness of losing both his son and his wife.
Her father once again became her avid supporter. Elizabeth often called for his advice on military thinking during back-door negotiations. As they watched the signing of her first peace treaty on television, her father told her that he couldn't be more proud of her. He also told her that he knew that her mother and Michael would have been proud of her. It was his way of saying goodbye. Captain Joseph Weir died in his sleep a few months later. He had never fully recovered from losing the love of his life.
Lost in her thoughts, Elizabeth doesn't see a tree root in front of her and trips. She is pulled to her feet by one of Karna's men. He gives a small shove forward.
"Keep moving, we're almost there."
"Where are we going, exactly?"
"To the old ruins. The Dreyans do not go there and Kashak will not think to search for us so close to Dreyan lands."
"What are you going to do with me?"
"We will hold you until we are sure the peace talks have failed. After that-"
"Quiet!" orders Karna from in front of them. "Kashak may still have scouts in the forest."
They continue walking in silence with Elizabeth doing her best to leave footprints in the forest floor. She hopes that Karna is right about Inbi scouts loyal to Kashak being nearby and retreats back into her thoughts.
Elizabeth hasn't seen her brother Marc in years. He must be fairly high up in the CIA by now. She wonders if he has enough security clearance to know about the Stargate program. She can only imagine Marc's reaction to seeing her name at the top of the Atlantis team roster. But deep down, she knows that Marcus will never know about this expedition. Maybe that will at least save him from ever attending a second funeral with an empty coffin.
She twists her ankle on another root and grits her teeth at the pain. Another one of her father's sayings comes to her.
Weirs are strong even at the hardest of times.
Elizabeth reflects back on how most of her adult choices are still centered around pleasing her father. She has to admit to herself that she's still trying to make him proud of her. She's not in the military, but she's the head of a mostly military expedition. When having to make difficult decisions, she still catches herself asking what her father would do.
That's probably why she never fully committed herself to Simon. Her father would not have approved. Simon isn't the type of man her father envisioned as her future husband – he was too political. The image of John standing speechless in the hallway last night flashes suddenly in her mind. Captain Weir didn't like pilots either. She's amazed she still remembers that conversation.
::::Flashback::::
Elizabeth is eight years old and sitting on her father's lap one lazy summer evening. Somehow, her parents' discussion has turned to her dating.
"She's going to have to start dating eventually," her mother says.
"No, she doesn't," retorts her father.
"Then how do you expect her to ever meet a nice young man and get married?"
"You mean a nice sailor."
"She doesn't have to marry Navy, Joe."
"Okay, maybe a Marine then. But no pilots, not even if they're Navy. And definitely no Air Force."
"You're just saying that because I dated an airman before I met you."
"No I'm not. Those damn flyboys like their planes more than their women and that's not good enough for my Lizzie. She'll marry a good soldier that's going to do everything in the world to protect her – even if she can watch out for herself."
"Oh Joseph! Don't you go putting medieval thoughts in her head. She doesn't need a man to protect her, just one that will love her."
"Whatever you say dear."
Her father waits until his wife is safely inside before turning back to Elizabeth.
"But no pilots, right Lizzie?"
"No pilots," she responds, making her father smile and hug her close.
"That's my girl."
::::End Flashback::::
Elizabeth smiles to herself, thinking that despite her father's prejudice against pilots, he would probably like John. She doesn't dwell too much on why it's important for her to believe that.
"Put her over there."
They've come to a large clearing dotted with old stone structures. They must be at the ruins. Elizabeth is pushed towards a crumbled column. She sits and gladly takes a drink from a canteen handed to her by one of the soldiers. She's only taken a few sips when the bottle is snatched out of her hands. Karna gulps down the remaining water and throws the empty canteen back at the solider.
"You've surprised me again Dr. Weir. I expected you to hold us back. Instead we have made good time. You must be eager to meet your fate."
Elizabeth looks up at Karna and doesn't flinch at the veiled threat. His hand goes around her throat he pulls her roughly to her feet.
"So much defiance for a woman. I hold your life in my hands. I know you are afraid."
He lets her go suddenly, causing her to stumble and catch her balance. She squares her shoulders and looks Karna in the eye.
Weirs do not show fear to the enemy.
"It is hard to be afraid of a man who takes defenseless prisoners like a coward."
Karna backhands Weir across the face. She lands hard on her hands and knees. She takes a deep breath as she stands back up, ignoring her bleeding lip and palms. The commander pulls out his pistol and runs its barrel across her cheek.
"So much spirit. I am going to enjoy breaking you."
"Commander Karna!" one of the soldiers finally intervenes. "You forget yourself in your anger. The Inbi do not harm innocents."
"You mean like the schoolchildren you killed in the bombing a month ago?" Elizabeth is using the only weapon she has available – words.
"What schoolchildren?" the first soldier asks.
"I set charges on a building that housed weaponry," another soldier comments, but he doesn't sound sure of himself. "Commander Karna said that the ammunition had been moved – that is why there were no secondary explosions."
"The building was a school," Elizabeth explains. "I saw the injured children. I saw the graves."
Karna hits her again, but this time the butt of his pistol catches her cheek and she's sent sprawling to the ground. Before the soldiers can come to her aid or question their commander further, a sentry comes running.
"Kashak's men are at the edge of the ruins. They have the other soldiers with them."
"Engage them," yells Karna. He pulls Elizabeth up with his left hand, his right still wielding the pistol. "I will take her. Make sure they do not follow."
The soldiers see the gun in his hand and hesitate.
"You have your orders. Go!"
Karna crashes back into the woods, dragging Elizabeth behind him. She struggles against him and hears the sound of gunfire behind them. After several minutes of trying to make their way through the trees, he shoves her into a small clearing. Elizabeth comes up to a kneeling position and finds Karna's pistol pointed at her head.
"Our positions are reversed," Karna says, referring to their initial meeting.
Elizabeth lifts her chin and stares at him boldly.
"Even if you kill me, your soldiers will never follow you. They know you are a coward that kills women and children."
"You are wrong," he laughs coldly. "It is easy to find soldiers who will follow me. There will be no peace. I will not be ruled by worthless Dreyans."
Karna pulls back the hammer and a single shot rings out through the clearing.
TBC...
