Mala leaned back against the stone outcropping that she used as her hiding spot as she gazed out at the giant ring around which the six Chosen and their Mates stood guard. They had told her to stay in the village, where she would be safe in case of an attack by the Wraith. She sniffed. The Wraith were just a fairy tale told by the Chosen to keep the villagers in line.
If they were real, then more people would flock to Felus, searching out the protection the Chosen offered.
The course rock began digging into her back, and Mala shifted to a more comfortable position as her thoughts wandered. No, the Wraith were not real. But the Chosen's oppression of her people were. They had kept things from their Mates and the other humans, things that would change the very fabric of life on Felus if it were common knowledge.
Mala knew all about those things; she had snuck into the Temple and seen. She had seen beings that were human, and they had created the Temple and the Chosen. The Chosen were meant to serve humans, not the other way around.
And when McKay returned, and she had become his Mate through the ritual, then things would change. She would rise up against the Elders, both human and Chosen, and assume leadership of her people. Then, under her command, the rest of the Chosen and their Mates would go forth and conquer other worlds. Perhaps they would even find the city she had seen pictures of in the Temple. The city from which those first humans had come.
She allowed a lazy smile to come to her lips as her imagination soared with the possibilities.
Elizabeth gazed absently at the reports in front of her, her mind not on them, but on what Sheppard, Teyla and Ford had just finished telling happened back on the planet.
What reason would these people have had to kidnap Rodney? And what had they done to him to make him so sensitive to noises? She was still waiting on Carson's final report, but remembered all to well the disturbing sight of the physicist in the 'gate room.
She sighed and pushed back from the desk. John had recommended that they not return, ever, to MP5-442. However, Liz realized that if something were seriously wrong with Rodney, they would most likely have to go back. Which is what the natives obviously wanted. But then, why had they let the team return? It didn't make any sense.
She turned troubled eyes towards the wall, staring off into some far away distance. Every time any of the teams that went exploring off world got into trouble, she always found herself reacting this way. Questioning herself, her leadership skills, her decisions.
What if she chose the wrong thing? What would happen if, through her own incompetence, someone was injured or killed? What if...
Her self-doubts were interrupted by the alarm that rang through the base. Shaking her head, she rose to see what the matter was, and was halfway to the door of her office when it opened.
Elizabeth froze to the spot as a giant white cat slinked quickly through. It caught sight of her and froze too, baring its fangs and growling lowly in its throat. She stared at its glazed eyes and layed back ears and then frowned. Hadn't Sheppard said something about a white cat with two horns that they had encountered on the planet? And then a man with silver eyes?
Something stirred in her brain, and she almost refused to acknowledge it. But it would be too much of a coincidence, and that was something she didn't believe in anyway.
"Rodney?" she asked softly, hesitantly.
The cat stared at her, and the ears twitched slightly. Then it made a glad little mewling sound and bounded over to her, burying its head into her abdomen. She winced as the horns tore through her shirt and scratched the skin, but the intrusion was only momentary.
As suddenly as the cat had appeared, in its place, with his arms around her middle, was Rodney. A very naked, Rodney, a small part of her mind insisted on noticing. He was looking up at her with a desparation that brought a lump to her throat.
"What? What's happening to me..." The confused, hurt little voice was so unlike the usual acerbic sarcasm the physicist used, it hurt Elizabeth to hear it.
"It's all right, Rodney," she told him, placing her hand on his head, "We'll figure it out. Everything's going to be okay."
Later, in the infirmary, Elizabeth consented to having the scratches looked over by Carson. They had barely broken the skin, but the doctor wouldn't hear any of her protests.
"We dinna know if tha's wha' did this to Rodney," Carson admonished her, "An' I jus' want ta make certain."
"I know, Carson," Elizabeth sighed, "But you said there were no signs of anything like it on him."
"Tha's right, but you have to remember that Major Sheppard and Lieutenant Ford both had injuries that would have taken weeks, if ever, to heal as well as they have, in a matter of hours," Carson insisted, "Besides. It could get infected, even if 'tis a normal wound."
"All right," Elizabeth said, giving up the protests, "You're too stubborn for me."
She glanced over at the bed where Rodney was sleeping peacefully, with a full compliment of armed guards surrounding. Their guns held only tranquilizers, but the point was that they were there. What if, during the next transformation his actions weren't so benign?
And Carson had assured her that there would be a next time, after showing the rather confusing DNA samples he'd taken...
Elizabeth suddenly found her thoughts drifting as she watched the sleeping scientist, a feeling of peace and well being washing over her. The last thought she had before falling asleep herself, was that it was rather warm in the infirmary.