Rodney was intermittently yanked and shoved through the dark hallways of the prison by two silent guards who seemed to enjoy watching him stumble and start as they went along. He'd known guys like that back in his schooldays - the kind who'd step on your shoes just to see you trip, or stick a pin on your chair just to see you jump up and yelp. He was glad he wouldn't have to be around them for very long.
Every now and then, they'd walk past cells with half a dozen or so big, smelly, dirty men inside, reaching their arms out through the bars and shouting at them. Rodney felt as though he'd suddenly found himself in one of those awful prison movies his father had loved so much. The thought made him shudder.
He couldn't help but notice that he was wearing identical pants and shirt to the ones these men wore, though theirs were dirty and ragged and looked like they'd been worn without being washed for years. That was not a pleasant thought.
When they finally arrived at their destination, one of the guards opened a rather Gothic looking door and shoved Rodney inside. He was then led to the center of the room, where there were chains hanging from the ceiling. To his horror, the guards clamped them around his wrists and then did the same to his ankles with chains that were attached to the floor. This held him securely in place with his arms slightly raised and his feet immovable.
Then he was left alone.
Or at least, he seemed to be alone. Just as he was about to panic over the thought that he'd been left to just stand there for the next God knew how long, he heard a voice from the shadows covering the far side of the room.
"It's wonderful to see you again, Dr. McKay. And looking so well, aside from the bruises."
Rodney's heart all but stopped completely at the sound of that voice. He wanted to run, but it was impossible. He could only stand there and watch with wide eyes as the man slowly stepped into the light. "Wh... what the hell are you doing here?"
Kolya smirked. "I couldn't just let an opportunity like this pass me by."
Rodney's jaw dropped. "You mean... it was all you? You were the one who set me up?"
"Don't flatter yourself, Doctor," Kolya said with a shake of his head. "I have better things to do than lie in wait for you on a distant planet. The Genii are close allies with the people on this planet, so naturally I was informed of your crime as soon as you were convicted. I merely took advantage of a situation that had already presented itself. Besides, I am sure I could have come up with a better way of getting you here than staging a murder."
Rodney shuddered as Kolya circled around him slowly. "So... what is it that you want from me?" he asked. "Cause I've got to warn you... you won't have much time to do whatever it is you're about to do. Major Sheppard will be bursting through those doors any minute now."
Kolya chuckled and came around to stand in front of him again. "You really believe that?" he said.
"Yes."
"Well, I am sorry to break this to you, Dr. McKay, but... your friends believed the story they were told. They have already returned to Atlantis, and they will not be coming back."
"That's a lie!" Rodney shouted angrily. "Major Sheppard never leaves anyone behind, and if..."
He was silenced by a backhanded slap to the face.
Kolya leaned in close to Rodney's ear then and said quietly, "Not even you?"
"Not anybody."
Kolya nodded and folded his hands behind his back. He slowly paced back into the dark section of the room, and moments later returned with a small device in his hand. "The conversation between your team and Officer Ronas was recorded on this device. Would you care to listen?"
Rodney turned his head slightly and refused to answer.
Kolya seemed to take that as a yes, and pressed a button on the device. Major Sheppard's voice came through loud and clear.
"Look, I'm not denying that he killed the guy, I'm just asking that you allow us to take him back with us to Atlantis and deal with it there."
"How can we be sure you will deal with it once you are away from our supervision? I do not believe you understand the seriousness of this crime, Major."
"No, I do. I do understand, I just..." He sighed. "Okay, we'll go. But just promise me one thing."
"What is that?"
"Treat him fairly. And... tell him we said goodbye."
Kolya snapped the device off and folded his hands behind his back again. "Straight from his own mouth."
Rodney looked down at the floor as he tried to process this information. Major Sheppard had said he'd go, but he'd said nothing about not coming back. He had probably just pretended to leave willingly so that they wouldn't expect a rescue mission later on. It all made perfect sense... didn't it?
"I know this may be hard for you to accept," Kolya said, "but he did say to tell you goodbye."
"He also told you to treat me fairly," Rodney said. He rattled the chains on his arms. "Do you call this fair?"
Kolya gave him a half-smile that looked more evil than comforting. "He told Ronas to treat you fairly," he said. "Ronas treated you well. I, however... I am not bound by that promise."
Rodney almost passed out in fear as Kolya walked over to the wall and flipped a switch, illuminating the entire room in bright light. All along the far wall were gizmos and gadgets that Rodney could only assume were instruments of torture.
"Shall we begin?"
"Do we even know where this prison is?"
"No, we don't, Lieutenant," John replied. "That would be why we're taking the jumper, so we can scout the city and decide on a plan of action from there."
He lowered the jumper into place before the Stargate as he spoke. After a quick glance behind him to make sure the five passengers in the back were ready to go, he said, "Dial the gate, Lieutenant."
Ford started entering the symbols, but before the gate activated, Dr. Weir's voice came through the radio.
"Bring him home, Major."
"Will do," John said.
"Be careful," she added.
"As always." He nodded to Ford as the gate sprang to life, and activated the cloak. "Here we go."
He was only a little surprised that there was no one guarding the gate when the jumper passed through. He wasn't so arrogant to assume that their arrival had gone completely undetected, though. These people seemed to be more advanced than he'd originally thought, so he figured they would probably have some kind of surveillance technology watching the gate at all times. They were cloaked, however, so he hoped that meant they would have a little while to do what they came to do before they were found out.
They flew right over the town, scanning it closely for anything resembling a prison. After the second pass showed up nothing, Ford looked over at John and said, "Think we should pull over and ask for directions?"
John shot him a dark look. "Funny. Keep looking."
Teyla came up behind them then, leaving Bates and his team to themselves. "Could that not be the prison?" she asked, pointing to a large building off in the distance.
"It looks like a school to me," Ford said.
John gave him another look. "It has barbed wire fencing around it."
Ford shrugged. "Exactly."
John rolled his eyes. "Let's take a closer look," he said, instructing the jumper to head straight for it.
As they drew closer, it became more and more apparent that this was, indeed, the prison. There were guards at all visible entrances, for one thing, and high fencing all around it. Much to John's joy, however, it did appear to have one weakness - there was a large square of open land in the middle of the complex, where it seemed that various of the prisoners were out for some fresh air. They could easily fly the puddle jumper in there without detection.
"Hang on, Rodney," he muttered under his breath. "We're almost there." He looked over his shoulder and called, "Bates?"
Bates stood up from his spot on the floor and came up behind him. "Do you have a plan?" he asked.
"Yeah, I think so," John said, hoping he sounded more confident than he felt. "I'm gonna fly the jumper right in there, land it somewhere out of the way, and... well, to be honest, that's all I've got for now."
He could almost feel Bates' look of disapproval boring into the back of his neck. "How are we going to get inside without being made?"
Good question. "Well... there are prisoners hanging around outside. Maybe we can pick one or two of them off, switch clothes with them, and walk right in without anyone being the wiser."
"I think you've been watching too many movies, Major."
John tilted his head to the side as he considered this, but as Bates didn't actually protest against the plan, he figured he didn't really need to argue the point. "Okay, here goes," he said. "Everybody cross your fingers."
Hopefully, plan A would work for once, cause he sure as hell didn't have a plan B.