Chapter 23 - If It's Not One Thing, It's Another
Sheppard sighed and sat down on a stump looking around at the defenses they had erected. He huffed. This wasn't going to do much more than put on a show of resistance. The primitive cannons the Relarn had weren't going to do much against the Wraith. They'd be lucky if the managed to land one shot. Black powder charges weren't nearly fast enough to catch something going at mach two.
He sighed and shifted the strap on the sling holding his arm and reached for his radio. "Zelenka come in."
The quiet hiss of static before the radio clicked off again was the only answer.
"Zelenka?" He started to frown. "Teyla, you there?"
He stood, looking around the clearing for Stackhouse. The younger man was helping shore up the hasty palisade the Relarn were raising around the village.
"Stackhouse," he called, waving him over.
The Sergeant said something to the man he was working with and then jogged over. "What is it, Major?"
Sheppard lowered his voice. "I can't raise Teyla or Zelenka."
A concerned look spread across his face. "Go check out the cave?" he asked and Sheppard nodded.
They quickly made their way out of the village and back to the ruins. Sheppard led the way to the entrance to the underground structure. This could not be happening. He struggled to suppress the image of his injured team member that had greeted him the last time they been here. If something happened to Zelenka, Weir was never going to trust him with a scientist again. Heck, he wouldn't trust himself.
The rough ground slowed them down a bit, but they quickly made their way to where they left Teyla and Zelenka. Sheppard led them to the entrance to the underground chamber. He paused a moment, pressing his hand to the panel and the door hissed open. Stackhouse raised his weapon and looked at Sheppard, indicating for him to step back so he could enter first. Sheppard nodded, pulling free his pistol and letting Stackhouse lead the way.
The chamber was as dark and as dank as he remembered. The damp, feted air made his nose wrinkle as they entered. Stackhouse moved in quickly, the flashlight clamped to his P-40 quickly scanning the room.
"Clear," he announced after a moment.
Sheppard frowned, scanning the room himself. "Where are they?"
"Don't know, sir," Stackhouse responded, moving around looking for another way out of the room.
A flash of reflected light caught Sheppard's eye and he walked over and picked something up off the ground, his frown deepening as he realized what it was. Zelenka's glasses.
"Sir," Stackhouse turned back to him. "There's a doorway here."
Sheppard folded the Czech scientist's glasses up and tucked them into his breast pocket and then hurried over.
Teyla slowly opened her eyes. Her head ached horribly and she reached up only to find them bound. She looked around. She was in some kind of cave. Memory rushed back and she stilled herself. She did not wish to alert the Wraith she was awake. She cautiously reached around her, hoping to find Zelenka. Her hand brushed against something warm and then the familiar feel of the Earthmen's cloth. She glanced over. Zelenka lay beside her, a dark bruise against his cheekbone and his glasses were gone, but otherwise he seemed unharmed. His chest rose and fell regularly. The Wraith had not fed on either of them. She was unsure whether this was a good thing or not.
She slowly turned her head to get a better look at their surroundings. They were no longer in the chamber of the Ancients that Doctor Beckett had found. Above her sloped the curve of stone, not metal. It was a cave of some sort. The angle and slope of the walls were too regular to be natural. It had been carved out of the heart of the bedrock.
Teyla held her breath and listened. She could not hear anything, nor could she feel the immediate presence of the Wraith. That had been troubling her. She could normally feel the Wraith's presence when they were near, but she had not been able to feel these Wraith. Perhaps she had lost her ability or perhaps these Wraith were different.
She waited a few more moments and then gingerly sat up. She could still feel the tingling after affects of the Wraith blast, but it was easing now. She leaned over to the scientist and nudged him gently.
"Doctor Zelenka," she whispered, leaning in beside him. "Doctor Zelenka, you must wake up."
He sighed and mumbled something in the language of his home country that she did not understand. "Doctor Zelenka," she whispered softly, nudging him harder. "Doctor Zelenka, you must wake up."
He groaned and his eyes slowly opened. He looked at her and blink, frowning a bit in confusion. He squinted around them. "What?"
"We were captured by the Wraith, can you move?"
She asked him. He just stared at her and then suddenly seemed to comprehend what she was saying and muttered something harsh sounding in his language again, shifting to try to get in a sitting position. His movements were awkward and clumsy, but he was moving nonetheless.
"Can you reach to untie me?" she asked, turning toward him and finding herself face to face with their captor.