His whole body felt like it was on fire, as he fled from the pain and from the smells that assualted his suddenly sensitive nasal cavity. And from the noise. Sounds bombarded his ears, banging through his skull and making his head ache worse than the rest of him put together.
He pressed his hands to his ears, hoping they'd afford some protection from the attack, but found he couldn't for some reason. He was using them to run. Panic mounted higher then and he screeched to a halt, breathing hard and gazing around him at all the tiny movements his eyes were picking up. There was a mouse-thing there, and lizard over there...
Crying out, in both pain and fear, he curled up on the ground in a little ball, trembling. Soon, the sounds and the smells faded, though the pain in his body intensified before a blissful darkness claimed his consciousness.
John found his weapons and gear easily enough. Either the people of this village didn't know what they were, or didn't think they'd be a threat. Neither scenario particularly appealed to him at the moment. He stalked out of the little hut and directed Ford and Teyla to follow him in the direction they'd heard the scream.
If the acerbic physicist were injured or worse, it would be his fault. He should have insisted on turning back in the Jumper the moment he realized the energy field was some kind of lure. But right now that sort of thinking wasn't going to help. He needed to get to McKay first, then he could practice self-recrimination.
The forest was much darker, and therefore harder to navigate, at night, even with the night vision goggles and flashlights. Teyla seemed to have the easiest time of it, but then the Athosian was used to this. She had lived in a forest all her life.
"Major!" Ford shouted, "Over here!" The lieutenant had wandered a little ways to the left, and John changed his own direction to go investigate.
Teyla followed closely behind, and as they came upon the spot Ford was indicating, she gasped. John grimaced and knelt down beside the unconscious scientist, feeling for a pulse. It was there, and surprisingly strong. Relief filled him. McKay had simply fainted again, though there was still the question of why he was without clothing of any sort.
"Okay, come on," John said, taking his jacket off and draping it around McKay in a sort of makeshift blanket, "Let's get him out of here. No more detours in strange villages." He made a mental note to tell Dr. Weir that this planet was definitely off limits, as he and Ford gently lifted the unconscious form.
With Teyla guiding them, they made it to a relatively safe spot, just above the village. We must be entering the mountain range we passed in the Jumper John thought. And it didn't look like there would be any easy passage through them as there had been over them. Just great.
"No!" McKay suddenly cried out, "Too loud! Stop...stop the noise...please..." he trailed off into a whisper as his hands clutched at his ears.
Teyla was standing over McKay, gently touching his forehead, as though feeling for a fever. "He is very warm," she said after a time, looking up at John in concern, "And his face is very flushed."
John nodded curtly. "Okay, we can either wait here and hope to be rescued...or we can find some way through those mountains. Either way is probably going to be dangerous, but...we need to get McKay as far away from here as possible."
He doubted very seriously that the voices McKay had claimed to hear and whatever was going on now was much of a conicidence.
The bushes outside their small hiding spot rustled, and he and Ford pointed their weapons towards it. Nothing appeared, though the bush still moved every once in a while. Narrowing his eyes, John called out, "Show yourself, we know you're there."
A slight figure crawled from behind the bush and stood. It was a young woman, one of the villagers who had attended them. She was glaring at them fiercely, with her hands clenched into fists. Then she pointed one trembling hand at McKay.
"He is mine!" she hissed in fury, her eyes snapping, "I was promised. I was raised and trained for this moment. We thought no more would come that would be compatible. But he was. And he is mine!"
"That is enough, Mala!" A new voice spoke up from another direction.
John jerked his weapon towards the man who had appeared as if from nowhere, who hadn't made a sound in his approach. He didn't appear to be much older than the girl, but his eyes gleamed brightly silver in the dark, calling to mind the strange creature McKay had encountered earlier that day.
"But Fratoh!" the girl, Mala, protested, "They are trying to..."
"I know girl, but it is not your place to question. He is not yours yet. Not until after the ritual. If they wish to take him to their homeworld, then they may. They will soon bring him back. They will have to." At this Fratoh smiled directly at John, before continuing. "Go then, there is a chamber a few miles distant that will take you to the Stargate. Go home, and when you return, we will be waiting to escort you back here."
Fratoh turned and disappeared into the darkness, though John was almost certain he saw the gleam of silvery-white coat.
Mala had been watching him, but now she was giving them all a lethal glare. "Fratoh has spoken, though he isn't even an Elder. But he is a Chosen, so I must obey. And if anything has happened to him" she jerked her chin in McKay's direction, "Then I will kill you all." then she sniffed and walked off, making a considerable amount of noise in her departure compared to that of Fratoh.
John stared at her retreating back until it too disappeared into the darkness before turning to the conscious members of his team. "Well, that was...strange." Strange. This whole experience had been strange.
"We won't be coming back, will we?" Ford asked uneasily.
"Of course not," John answered immediately, "But we need to get a move on before these people change their minds."
His words sparked a flurry of activity, and soon they were on their way to the chamber Fratoh had mentioned.
It was hidden well within the rockey terrain, and only someone who knew it was there would be able to find it. It was a small aircraft, shaped liked one of the monorail cars at an amusement park back on Earth, and it was of Ancient design. Obviously the people of the planet didn't know what it was, and so called it a chamber.
John grunted as he and Ford lifted McKay into it, then he waited as Teyla boarded before climbing on himself. As soon as he was in, the doors closed and the machine whirred to life and lifted into the air. The ride, though longer than if they had been in the Jumper, was quiet and peaceful, and was over soon enough.
"That was cool," Ford remarked as they stood watching it fly back off to the mountains, "I bet McKay would have loved it if he were awake."
John nodded once, then turned to the DHD and began dialing. The wormhole opened, and he put in his code, then they all stepped through.