Chapter VII: All goes to hell.

John was finally down on the pier; he now looked up and called out to Stella to come down. Stella was nervous, having her last balcony experience so close to her. She could see the sunset now from where she was standing. Seeing the alien sun going down, she wished they could deal with the Wraith quickly and hoped they wouldn't get stuck outside the city after night really fell. Then as carefully as possible, she started to make her way down, trying not to look down.

John was now watching Stella make her way down. He realized that, he in all the time he had spent in the city, dealing with all sorts of different people, he had been able to deal with them. All requesting different things, the scientists, the other military personnel, his duties as the ranking military officer, Elizabeth, none compared to Stella. No one in his life had been able to bribe him so blatantly, so openly, and get away with it. He had to give it to her, she had a way to deal with people. From what he had gathered, she could be obnoxious, stubborn and a bit childish, but it could certainly get her where she wanted to be. Now he wondered how the hell she had managed to smuggle a paintball gun in with her stuff. Then again, if she managed that, what other wonders might she be hiding on her stuff? Questions... questions that would have to wait.

John now realized that even if Stella knew it or not, she held a position of power in the city. No, she wasn't the leader, she was barely seen in the city at all, but she was responsible for the clothes of the whole city. God know how she manages it. But that gave her the opportunity to do some nasty damage if she wanted. And now that he thought of it, John remembered that one moment he had seen Kavanagh after the incident with Stella. Not only was his face was bruised, but now amused, John remembered, that the scientist was scratching himself all over. Itchy stuff... of course, she had already gotten away with it.

Also, she saw all the footage her cameras captured. If she caught someone doing something out of order... oh, the possibilities for blackmail would be endless. Ok, note to self, find out where all the cameras are.

On the other hand, if she knew that she could take advantage of her job and do some damage if she didn't like someone and had never done it, then it made her a person John never had guessed it existed. Yeah... definitely from now on he would be careful of what he did around her.

A click on his radio broke his thoughts, then he heard Ford's voice. "Sir, the Wraith are trying to get to us. We will stay here as long as possible, then we'll come down the rope."

"How close are they?"

"Almost here."

"Forget it. Just come down the rope and we will deal with them. We can't afford to split up now."

But the only reply was gunfire.

-0-0-0-0-

Stella was really trying to come down as fast as she could, but she felt it was taking an eternity. And that was without her looking down. Now she heard the major talking to the radio, then gunfire above her. She froze; didn't know what to do. Then she looked up, there was more gunfire and then she saw it, a Wraith looking down at her.

She froze, completely. Gunfire was heard again and the Wraith disappeared.

John saw it, and knew that if Bates and Ford had to make a quick escape, Stella couldn't be on the rope. "Stella, jump!"

She gaped at him in utter terror. "What?"

"Jump, they may need to make a quick escape!"

John heard Stella shout now, "I already fell from a balcony today Major. I have no intention of falling again."

He glared at her, a bit annoyed. "Stella, stop arguing and jump. You're not that far up."

Stella looked up and realized that he was right. She didn't wanted to compromise their lives because she didn't wanted to get hurt again… Stella closed her eyes and jumped. When she landed, she lost her balance, and John helped her steady herself.

They both looked up now, hearing more gunfire. John clicked his radio. "Ford, talk to me!"

Gunfire was heard over the radio. "Bates is down, sir, and one Wraith is dead. I would recommend you to get out of the way. The remaining Wraith managed to get onto the balcony while I was protecting Bates."

John looked up again and noticed the movements on the balcony. So he did the first thing that came to mind: he grabbed Stella by the neck of her tank top and dragged her out of harm's way. They hid behind a wide column just as the remaining Wraith jumped down from the balcony and landed gracefully nearby.