Standing Outside a Fire

Chapter One: The Scarlet Tempest


Surely 13 Isn't Unlucky All the Time....

It was a few months after the inhabitation of Atlantis, about three. Three long, grueling months of settling into the megacity, filled to the brink with Sheppard's sarcasm, Weir rolling her eyes, Jinto breaking priceless artifacts, Teyla's "Knock-You-On-Your-Ass" morning tea, Beckett's whining at McKay, and McKay's average of three injuries a week. Missions so far had been short and few since the city needed to be explored, or so the ever cautious (or paranoid, depending on who you asked) Dr. Weir thought. But now that everyone had set living quarters, the research labs were cleaned, and everyone was for the most part content, things needed to get moving.


"We've sent a MALP to about ten of the gates that have been documented in the Ancient's records as safe." Weir began briefing, passing out papers to AG-1 who were gathered in one of the offices just outside the Embarkation Lobby. The room was small and almost filled with the half-circle table and chairs. Sheppard tried idly to lean back his chair, only to bump it against the wall loudly. Weir sent him a look of disbelief and the Major looked sheepish for a moment. "This one is on the top of our list for befriending other worlds. AGX-013."

"Why this world, Doctor?" Teyla asked idly, staring down at the print out. She didn't recognize the gate address.

"Well, for the last five worlds-"

"Four worlds, one moon." McKay piped up instantly, looking at his copy of the report, answering more instinctually than anything. "AGX-007 was a moon in orbit of a gaseous planet."

"Shut up, McKay." Sheppard groaned, the words coming out easily. As they should; he said them often enough. McKay glared at the Major, eyes narrowed out of instinct. Idiot, he thought to himself scathingly.

"As I was saying." Weir threw a look to the two men, showing that she thought they were acting like children. The two reluctantly ended their heated staring contest and shifted self-consciously in their chairs. "The last five worlds you went to were forest worlds, and I believe our lieutenant voiced his opinion of the pattern. So, we're giving you a new climate to deal with."

Flipping deeper into the file, Sheppard sighed. "A wasteland, ma'am?" he complained, spotting the one of the pictures the MALP took of 013.

"It's no a wasteland, Major. It's a desert." she corrected curtly. "From what we could tell, there is life there. In the distance, Grodin says there was an oasis and what seemed to be a small village."

"It says here the heat index was over one hundred thirty." the local physicist waved the report in the air for emphasis. "That's enough to kill us."

"You'll be bringing three extra canteens of chilled water, Beckett's orders. He also told me to ignore any comments of certain death from you, Rodney. You'll be fine." Weir relayed, smiling at the obviously miffed McKay. "And he'll never leave you alone if you come home claiming to be suffering from heat stroke."

"Scottish bastard." Rodney murmured, though his words held no poison. Though the duo gave each other endless trouble, Beckett and McKay were fast friends, both sharing interest in the ancients, women, and making fun of Americans.

"Moving on, let me remind you this mission will be strictly diplomatic. Try not to involve yourself in an intergalactic war, AG1." Weir continued, glancing at Ford. "Despite how exciting it would be. Any questions? No? Your mission starts at 1300 hours. Go gear up and put on some sun screen. Dismissed."


"One hundred thirty degrees!"

"We know, McKay. No one's happy about it." Ford soothed before his CO opened his own mouth to yell at the frail scientist. The two had at least five arguments a day, and that was only if they avoided each other.

Personally, Ford liked McKay. The man had a certain right to be irritable; ever since the shield incident, 'Let's Mock Dr. McKay' had become a city-wide sport. Not that the guy didn't earn it with his own attitude. The only person known to deal voluntarily with him was Carson Beckett. One would think that meant the medical doctor had the patience of a saint. In reality, it meant he had no patience and just didn't tolerate McKay's lip. Having the key to the cabinet holding Rodney's medicines to combat his allergic reactions probably had something to do with it too.

"What does McKay mean when he says one hundred thirty degrees, Aiden?" Teyla whispered, strapping on one on the lighter vests over her violet shirt.

"Degrees is Earth's measurement for heat, or temperature. It tells us how warm it is." Ford explained kindly, tying his boots up. "Your home world was about... seventy-nine, wouldn't you say, sir?" he guessed.

"Felt more like eighty-three to me, but that's about right." Sheppard replied, checking his P-90's ammo. "The indoor temperature in here is about sixty, if that helps you get an idea."

"It does, thank you." Teyla replied, shouldering her backpack and standing. She closed her locker and watched as Sheppard pulled McKay's bag from him.

"Three extra canteens is all we need."

"Excuse me for being cautious."

"Cautious would be putting in four, not six, Doctor."

McKay didn't respond at first, only rolling his eyes and yanking the pack back to him and pulling it onto his back. He carried his usual 'why do I put up with this treatment' pout on his lips, but started walking back to the gateroom anyway. "Better safe than dead."


As soon as Sheppard arrived on the other side of the wormhole, he suspected McKay might have been right. It felt like a heavy, heated blanket wrapped itself around him, making it hard to take deep breaths. Three more panting breaths behind him told him he wasn't alone in his feelings about the land. He suddenly wished he'd followed the astrophysicist's lead and brought sunglasses with him. He hated when McKay was right. It irked him to no end.

"Sir, while I'm sure we'd all love to stand here staring at the fascinating scenery, can we head to the oasis and out of this sun?" an unusually irate Ford suggested. Sheppard snapped out of his trance and nodded, starting to walk towards a green-ish area in the distance.

The team trudged along under the midday sun. Sheppard cursed Weir several times for not sending them earlier in the day, when it wouldn't have been a furnace. He was never one for superstitions, but he was beginning to think of thirteen as an unlucky number.


Invitation to the Festival

After nearly an half hour of travel, AG1 reached the outside of the oasis, marked by an abrupt appearance of bright green grass, replacing the steaming sands. Teyla reached out and touched the first tree, hoping that it was not an illusion. When she felt the rough trunk of the tree, she fought hard to conceal her relief. The shadows given off from the top's fan-like leaves felt like ice on her scorched skin. Losing all composure, she slumped against the tree, closing her eyes and tilting her head up to felt the coolness of the shadows waving over her face. She felt Major Sheppard clap her on the shoulder as he joined her in the shade. Ford opened his second canteen, the first one long empty, and finished off the last few gulps. Rodney dropped into an almost cross-legged sit beside Teyla and downed the first of his third canteen.

They group stayed like that on the edge of the oasis, oblivious to everything around them but the shade, perfectly content to stay there.

"Who are you?"

The entire team jumped to attention at the voice, glancing over to see a man standing only a few yards away. He had incredibly dark skin under his outfit, a set of earth toned, almost sheer cottons that vaguely remind the Earth natives of old Arabian outfits. The man held a wooden spear leveled at them, looking as though he was very proficient and comfortable in its use.

"We're peaceful travelers." Sheppard said, mentally wincing at the thought of how many times he'd have to say that cliche line. "We came here through the Stargate."

The man looked confused. "Stargate?"

"That huge stone ring thing over there." Rodney supplied, waving a weary hand in the Gate's general direction.

The man nearly dropped his weapon in surprise. "You have come through the Cuderi?"

"If that's what you like to call it, sure. Cuderi." Sheppard confirmed calmly with a charming smile. "Is there a problem with that?" He had already heard stories from Ford about times back with the SGC that natives feared people who came through the gate, thinking them evil and trying to kill them. He hoped this wasn't the case.

"N-no! Not at all, travelers!" the guard lowered his weapon quickly, bowing. "I must escort you to the Elder. He will wish to meet you, I am sure. This is the first we've had of travelers from the Cuderi in three generations!"

"Sure thing. Hey, can you tell us where we actually are?" Sheppard questioned, motioning the native to relax.

"My apologies! I was not thinking. This is the outskirts of Ju'umsu, village of the Yunan people." the man said with an air of pride for his home. "Please come with me." Resting his weapon on his shoulder, he turned and began walking to the settlement ahead.

It wasn't as small as they had thought at first. It had only looked that way by the nature of the buildings. Instead of building up, they were dug down several feet into the sand into burrow-esque homes, with only about three feet above ground. The street itself was layered with dried leaves of the trees, which Ford pointed out where like oversized palm trees. Around them was a thriving marketplace, tents of colorful thick cloth propped up by wooden poles selling a variety of items. Many shopped and salesfolk paused in their activities to stare at the newcomers before returning to their business.

"Seems these people don't find us to interesting." Ford observed wryly. Not that the man was complaining. Just observing.

"We are very calm and accepting of new things. We do not meddle in the affairs of other often. You can expect to be treated well here." their guide answered, smiling lightly in fondness for his people.

"Thank you. We appreciate that very much." Teyla said, finally breaking her silence. "Of late, our travels have not gone so well."

They left the main square, taking a north road that lead away from the crowds and to a less wore trail of sand with painted stones every few feet framing the path. McKay frowned at the symbols painted on the rocks, not recognizing them. They seemed to mean something, having a sort of order to their design that he couldn't place. Before long, he quit thinking about it. Without any information, he'd never figure it out, he realized with a disappointed sigh.

After several more minutes of walking, the path ended. Right were it ended was a steep decline in the land, a set of stone steps there the carry them down. The guard stopped at the top and lowered his head respectfully. "This is were I leave you. Down these stairs and into the hill is our Elder's home, the Rak'cuderi Temple. Farewell." And without wait for an answer, he walked into the trees and off the path, leaving AG1 alone.

"Whelp, I guess we better met this elder guy." Sheppard stated casually, taking the stairs two at a time. His team followed silently and turned into the hall that ran under the hill.

The walls were of brick, most likely made of hardened sand. It had several support beams built against the walls, each one with a candle holder mounted and lit, coloring the walls orange and yellow. Despite the many flames, the hall was very cool, the air feeling slightly damp as well. Descending the tunnel, they didn't have long to wait we the floor changed direction, tilting upward and to the right. Climbing up the incline, a huge room opened up before them. It was circular with the same sand brick walls and ceiling. A plush sky-blue rug was the majority of the floor. It the room's center was a fountain of the clearest water they had ever seen, it flying up in a single stream before falls back into a gold ornate bowl. Just beyond is sat an old man in deep meditation it seemed.

He was about sixty-five-ish, sitting cross-legged on a feather cushion on the floor. His hair was mostly white, though speckles of his original black could be seen. He was obviously once a fairly tall man in his prime, but with age, he seemed to shorten until he was just under Teyla's height. He wore light grey robes with a deep blue toga-style wrap over them. His feet had no shoes and his wrists no jewelry. Yet somehow he gave the impression of power and leadership.

His eyes popped open and focused on each of AG1's member's in turn. "Welcome to Ju'umsu, travelers from afar." he slowly stood, fighting off the creaking in his worn joints to walk around the fountain and stand before them. "I am the Elder, Akito, also High Priest of the Rak'cuderi Temple." he bowed as deep as his muscles allowed.

"I'm Major John Sheppard. This is Dr. Rodney McKay, Teyla Emmagan, and Lt. Aiden Ford. We're peaceful explorers from the Stargate." Sheppard replied in kind, introducing each of his team and bowing to the Elder.

"Yes, the Cuderi." Akito nodded, a sense of peace and calm surrounding him. "What is your purpose in our lone village of Ju'umsu?"

"Ah, we're just here to make friends." Sheppard said nonchalantly, "We're peaceful diplomats of our world." he said in his most charming tone, being sure to use terms a primative society would understand.

A smile broke across the old man's face. "Then you mean no danger to us. That's very good news. This must be good tiding of the Gecenadi." Any tension there before smoothed away and Akito lowered himself on the golden fountain's rim, holding a cane in his gnarled hands. Taking the hint, the other sat down on the soft floor.

"Gecenadi?" Ford voiced everyone's thoughts. "What's that?"

Akito smiled wider. "The Gecenadi Ritual of our village. A ceremony we perform once a year to restore the good will to the Oasis. The festival of Gecenadi is two days away, and it is said to promote good ties of friendship. You say you come here to make friends with my people. This is truly fate." he nodded to himself, looking from person to person. "I insist you stay for our festival. You shall be our guests of honor!" He swung his arms wide and laughed happily, feeling that fate had been kind.

Sheppard looked ready to agree, but Teyla broke in. "Before we agree to anything, Major, should we not consult with Dr. Weir?" Teyla reasoned, resting her hand on John's shoulder. He sighed and nodded, looking back to Akito.

"I would love to accept, but whether we may stay that long is up to my commander, Dr. Elizabeth Weir. Can we get back to you later with our answer?" Sheppard suggested, making to stand up.

"But of course. I would hate to cause trouble for you, Major. If you must console with your leader, by all means do so." Akito stood too, extending his hand to him. Sheppard promptly shook the proffered hand. "You must return to the Cuderi. I'll have my priests bring some Kienta to carry you. No one should walk in this heat." Akito hobbled to the door behind him to shout for his priests. "If you return, I shall be waiting at the inn for you." He left the room to speak with the fellow temple folk, leaving AG1 to themselves.

"So, that went well." Rodney said, bouncing on the heels of his feet. "Putting aside almost dying of heat stroke, that is."


Truth Behind the Gecenadi Ritual

"It sounds like a great idea, Major. Consider yourself and your team on leave for the next two days off world." Weir spoke through the audio link after the situation was relayed to her. "While your there, see what their people need that we may provide and vice-versa. Rodney, I trust you to know what to look for?"

"Of course. Consider me the human shopping list." McKay joked, nodding although he knew she couldn't see him.

"Alright. I shall eagerly await you to report back in two days, AG1. Have fun. Weir out." The wormhole disconnected a second later. The four turned back to their rides, the Keinta which seemed to be a sort of domesticated lizard of huge mass, easily able to carry large loads and people. The group mounted the creatures and unlatched the steering rod (a long steel rod mounted on a ring on the saddle. On the end of the pole was a piece of twine holding up a fruit the Keinta enjoyed, urging them forward).

The landlady of the inn was waiting for them outside the large burrow-house when they returned. She called the servants to lock the Kienta in their stables before escorting AG1 inside the dimly lit burrow. Sitting at one of the wooden circular tables in the corner was Akito, who stood and greeted them warmly.

"I have secured the master suite for you, travelers. I hope it will be satisfactory living quarters. Your leader has given her permission for you to stay, correct?" Akito said as he lead downstairs, hobbling down the steps with his cane in hand.

"Yep. We're on vacation, I guess you could say." Ford replied with a grin, looking around at the large wall paintings and various other pieces of decor. Before anyone could say more, they arrived at the room, Akito unlocking it and handing the key to Sheppard.

"That is good. All day tomorrow is the festival. There will be music and games and many more vendors than usual, if you can believe that. I hope you enjoy yourselves. I must attend to the preparations. Good night." Akito explained with a proud air to his voice, turning to go without another word.

Their room was very nice. It had four beds set up in the suite's corners. There was a finely made chest of drawers obviously not made of the local pine trees, but probably of an imported wood. The floor was a green rug, the walls a painted golden tan color. The ceiling had a slight domed quality to it. There was also a writing desk and a full bookcase in the room. On the table just right of the door was a cool wooden pitcher of water and four glasses made of smoky glass.

Rodney flopped onto the bed, face down. "Hm. Comfy." He mumbled to no one in particular. Dragging his feet onto the bed, he kicked off his shoes and curled up there, burying his head in the pillow.

"Well, it's my guess he's not going anywhere for a while." Ford commented, nodding to the seemly-comatose Canadian. "I'd like to explore a while before retiring, sir."

"I would like to accompany him, if that's alright." Teyla added in quickly, longing for the warm, heady air outside. Sheppard bobbed his head once before claiming a bed as his own, sitting and leaning his head against the headboard and closing his eyes, releasing his guard when he heard the door click closed.


"This place is pretty friendly." Ford casually said, taking in the surroundings in the dying light. The crowd, rather than clearing in the night, grew larger as the heat released it's tight grip over the planet. Lights were lit along the road in nests of dried grass perched atop tall poles of a black metal. Excited talking and general sounds of the market were louder than usual. Teyla felt any tension she still had seep out of her. familiarity with the site calming her, she marveled at how much it looked like her people's own market before the Wraith attack. People waving to each other, everyone on a first name basis... it made her slightly heartsick knowing she lost this to the Wraith.

"Teyla? You okay?" Aiden frowned, noticing the far-off look in his companion's eyes.

"I'm fine. Just thinking." Teyla smiled to him, stopping her sad thoughts there. "Shall we see what sort of dinner we can buy with our possessions?" she pointed to a small vendor with bench set for eating and some sort of menu hanging in front of the stall. Aiden nodded, suddenly feeling very hungry and followed the Athosian to it.

"Ah, welcome Cuderi travelers to my humble restaurant! What will you have?" the middle-aged man behind the counter called out amiably, bringing a smile to their lips. He held his hands over the top edge of the menu for emphasis, eyes bright and excited.

The two backed up to see the menu fully and thought about the same thing. 'Huh?' The symbols were completely foreign to them, made up of dashes and circles in various directions. Teyla and Aiden shared a look of confusion.

Finally figuring out what their unease was, the shop owner whacked himself on the forehead with his fist lightly. "My apologies! How stupid of me to forget. Our specials are Grenda Salad, Kienta steak, and Bird egg soup." he rattled off quickly, bowing slightly respectfully as he finished.

"I'll try the Grenda Salad."

"Gimme the Kienta steak."

"Splendid!" the chef clapped his hands once and swept off behind the white curtain where steam was billowing behind and various cooking sounds could be heard. Teyla and Aiden sat down on the wood bench across from each other. Aiden leaned his chin in his hand, elbow on the table. Teyla stretched her arms and shoulders and rested her gun on the table carefully. As they tuned out the background sound, a group of women could be heard a few feet away, chatting loudly and sipping their hot, light brown drinks.

"Personally, I don't know how Lord Akito does it year after year. To choose someone must be such pressure!"

"Not this year, if what I heard from Oataro was correct."

"Oataro's a shrine guard during the night hours, sou ka?"

"Yes. He has a good guess about who it is."

"He-he knows?! Tell us! Who's the sacrifice this time?"

Teyla's eyes widened at that and Aiden's head jerked up, turning to look at the circle of gossiping women. He opened his mouth, but Teyla grabbed his arm and held a finger to her lips. He nodded reluctantly.

"Well, I don't know her name. She's one of the quiet, strange ones, if you understand you I mean..."

A gasp. "No! She's barely 7 years old!"

Teyla felt like the bottom of her stomach dropped out. Ironic, because the chef came to them and placed their meals in front of them, bowing again deeply. 'Enjoy your meal." he said before sweeping off to deal with his other customers.

"Yes, but... you have seen the mark, haven't you? She's a half-demon! Who else has a scar that turns purple and ... expands!"

"Of course. Akito also said the ritual required the sacrifice of-"

"An unfortunate soul. Lord Akito's twisting it to get rid of her. It's for the good of the village too."

"True. Wouldn't want everyone who touched that child to become sick."

"It's more than that." the voice lowered again. "I hear she the last survivor of the...you know."

Teyla and Aiden cursed themselves for not knowing what.

"Really? Wow...I thought there was something different about her."

"You mean more than being a not of her right mind?"

Laughter.

"But I thought.... there were rumors a few months back about them."

"Yes, I heard that too. Unable to bleed at all."

"That's a fool's words. The girl can obviously bleed! She has the scar!"

"Oh... She wouldn't die in the Gecenadi Seven if she couldn't."

"Gecenadi Seven?"

"Well, you know the point of the ritual, sou ka?"

"I... Haven't seen it done first hand..."

The other two ladies sighed exasperated.

"Okay. I goes like this, dear. Someone is chosen to be the death of misfortune and, in turn, birth of good times."

"Now they dress her up all pretty. It's strictly tradition, you see."

"She is then killed with the Gecenadi Seven."

"What are the seven?"

"The cuts made collect to the blood to cleanse and kill the sacrifice."

"One, chin to collarbone."

"Two, from the left shoulder's groove to the right's."

"Three and four, downward cut on each temple."

"Five and six, from wrist to elbow on each arm."

"And after the blood is collected, seven."

"Wh-wha-what's seven?"

Pause.

"The Gecenadi Silver Sword if thrust through the face."

Teyla, overcome with a wave of nausea, rested her head on the table. Aiden ran his hand across his jaw, looking slightly ill.

"I regret asking..."

"Most do. But it's done only once a year and we need it to revive the fertility of the oasis."

"I'm not sure I want to know, but what do they do with the cleansed blood?"

"Seal it in a clay jar and bury it at the oasis spring's bottom."

"Ya?! What if it breaks!?"

"It's made of the spring's clay. Nothing breaks that. Occasionally, antique dealers around here end up selling the jar when it washes back to shore."

The chair scrapped out.

"I must go."

"What? Why?"

"I just... have to go!"

The sound of the women following their horrified companion's lead to retire (though for completely different reasons) for the evening.

The chef came back and looked at his guests' barely eaten plate. "Was the food overcooked?"


That's all for chapter one of book one of Standing Outside a Fire. Hope you'll tune in for the next part.

This book, 'Turbulent Winds' will have five long chapters. I know everything that happens, so don't worry about your authoress writing blind. waves the printed copy of 'Turbulent Winds' outline It's all here. I just have to expand and make this full length chapters.

I'm hoping to have chapter two "Flight of the Zephyr" finished in two or three days, but no promises. It'll be up the second it's done, I swear- well... after I run a spell check on it anyway.

Dr. Zephyr Tanaka


Update: 8/27/04

I had someone beta this (about three weeks too late, but meh) and I re-edited this to make for her suggestions. . Ara, so much I missed!

She pointed out something: How the group was shocked with the human sacrifice thing later on. My explanation: This story's first two chapters were written before "Childhood''s End". I didn't think they group would react so damn casually to it. glares at SGA writers

Dr. Zephyr