Sensitivity: Part Six

Tinael

Looking back, curfew hadn't been a good idea.

The people of Atlantis dragged themselves out of their quarters this morning, tense and watchful of each other, strangers to the people whom they'd trusted only a week ago.

Not that there'd been any better ideas than a curfew.

Not that Rodney had been given any time to come up with a better idea. If he'd been made aware of the problem at the start then he could have done something about it. After all, he was the man for solutions on the base, right?

Okay, well, technical solutions, anyway.

As they stepped out into the pollen-filled air of Tabaasa, Rodney huffed, settled his hat more firmly on his head, and tried not to imagine he could feel the pollen setting off his allergies.

From the rise where the Stargate stood, the kitchen gardens were clearly visible with their circular garden beds and sawdust paths. Rodney had explained things like fertilisation techniques and chemical pesticides to them the last time they'd been here, and while they'd listened intently, they'd professed themselves dissatisfied with his explanations and promised that there would come a time when they'd sit down and let him explain things more fully.

Then they'd loaded his arms up with fruit and vegetables and sent him back to Atlantis with testosterone poisoning.

Well, at least it was better than his reaction to lemon.

Although, 'better' was probably subjective. He suspected that neither Teyla, nor Elizabeth would agree with him on that point. Certainly few of the women in Atlantis would. Most had stayed in their rooms this morning, refusing to come out, even once daylight spread through the city.

Personally, Rodney thought such measures unnecessary. The trigger to the behaviour patterns was not night-time - there was no undue increase in violence at night - but the waxing of the moon; a steady build-up over the last week of 'influence' to the fullest moment of the moon early tomorrow morning before it began to wane again.

"Spot anyone you recognise?" Sheppard asked from beside him, his binoculars already up.

Rodney fumbled in his vest for his own binoculars. Damn flak jackets. So many pockets and you always picked the wrong one first. He wrestled them out and began looking for someone he recognised - or something untoward. They would have seen the Stargate opening - on the hill, it was nearly impossible to miss. There should be people coming towards them sooner or later...

Further down the steps, Teyla was shading her eyes against the midmorning sun. There was a very directed purpose about her - the same kind of purpose that he'd seen in Elizabeth's stance this morning as she called together the military personnel and sent them out to various solitary planets, hunting fresh meat.

Rodney had to hand it to her; it was a brilliant idea. She'd not only found a way for the testosterone-pumped males to work out much of their aggression during the day, she'd also managed to get them out of Atlantis and into a competition of sorts: which group could bring back the most game?

It almost made Rodney wish he'd gone. He could have rigged up a trap that would capture all the game they could possibly need...

He'd just put the binoculars to his eyes when Teyla spoke.

"Hatiana has seen us." One hand pointed to a woman who was making her way up the broad slope towards them. "She is coming to meet us." She started down the steps, only to be hauled back a moment later.

"Teyla," Sheppard said warningly. "You're not going anywhere without at least one of us."

She pulled her arm from his grip. "Going anywhere was never my intent, Major."

"Then where did you think you were heading just now?"

There was definitely something happening between those two, Rodney decided, peering back through the binoculars at the people working in the gardens. He saw a few others turn towards the hill and point up at them.

"--long as you're not putting yourself in danger--"

"That is not your concern," Teyla was saying with rigid softness. "As you well know, I am more than capable of defending myself--"

"Against one man, yes. Against many--"

"Um, sir?" Ford interrupted the growing argument between them. "I think we're gaining company."

Hatiana had reached them, breathless and anxious. The woman looked at Teyla, "I told you not to return here for several days more."

"Yes," Teyla said immediately. "But you did not say why."

The Tabaasan woman looked at Teyla, then looked at the others. Her gaze lingered a moment more on McKay before she turned back to Teyla. "Because it is not safe for you! Did you not understand my warning?"

"You said that the tinael shouldn't return," Sheppard said brusquely. "That's not exactly a clearly-phrased warning. What's a tinael?"

Hatiana stared at him, then at Teyla, a dawning alarm in her eyes. "You," she said, pressing her hand to Teyla's shoulder. "You are tinael! The men sense that - the waxing moon ensures they are aware of it. You must leave. Now." Her fingers closed around Teyla's wrist and she pulled her over to the DHD. "What is the code for your planet?"

Rodney was wondering if he could actually remember the few moves of self-defence he'd been taught by Sergeant Koslovska while in Siberia - and how much use they'd be to him against the men storming up the hill.

Teyla was still speaking to Hatiana, "We cannot leave yet."

"You must!" The woman was increasingly agitated by their lack of action. "The last time we had a tinael amongst us at the full of the moon, the men would not stop - could not stop - and she died. This I know, for my grandmother tried to warn her and her people to go, but they would not, not believing what we told them."

"But what--"

"Listen to me!" The urgency in her voice caught Rodney's attention as Hatiana dragged Teyla around and gripped her arms. "Untouched ones do not survive the full moon - it brings madness upon the men - even during the day. As the moon wanes, it is well, but as the moon grows, the presence of tinael only incites the men further."

Tinael... Rodney was fitting things together in his mind, and the pattern that was forming was very much not one he liked. At all.

He looked at the crowd still climbing the hill, getting closer and closer - close enough to see individual faces. They were mostly men, with a few women among them. The men looked...aggressive, with frighteningly eager expressions on their faces. The women looked anxious or tearful, trying to hold back the men with hands that weren't doing a very good job of hindering the tide that flowed up the hill.

Rodney made a decision right that instant.

He pushed past Sheppard on his way to the DHD. His stomach was suddenly feeling heavy, and his heartbeat was increasing.

"McKay?" It was a question.

"I'm dialling out now."

"McKay..." Now Sheppard's tone of voice was a warning.

He didn't look around, didn't stop in his progress to the DHD, but his voice was harsh and loud as he answered. "Major, either we leave now or things get really bad!"

Sheppard hadn't heard that tone of voice from him more than a handful of times, but he'd heard it often enough to know Rodney McKay was really worried.

And when Rodney McKay was really worried, things were bad.

He began dialling Atlantis, then switched sequences halfway through and dialled another planet. Empty, but one on which there'd been recent Wraith activity. The Wraith wouldn't return so soon after they'd culled the place, so it would be reasonably safe. Besides, they really wanted nothing more than a pit stop.

As he pressed the last of the glyphs, the first and fastest of the men crested the hill.

Two shots presaged the particle explosion as the event horizon connected - Sheppard's attempt to warn the men away.

"Major, I wouldn't suggest killing any of them," McKay yelled as the Stargate settled to the rippling blue-green surface.

"So I'll just shoot them somewhere non-fatal?" Sheppard retorted. "Ford, grab Teyla and..."

The Tabaasans had checked at the first shots, uncertain of this new weapon that could be used against them. But the sight of Ford moving to take Teyla's arm was too much for them, and before Sheppard could complete the sentence, the Tabaasans swarmed over them.

Then it was all chaos.

Rodney was in a difficult situation. He was a scientist, not a fighter. At present, the men were only attacking Teyla and the others - and they didn't really need his help in fighting...

Oh, jeeze.

He was no good with a gun unless the target was asking to be shot. Besides, he didn't want to kill the natives, just get them away from Teyla long enough to effect an escape. So Rodney left the safety catch on, and began using the butt of the weapon as a club instead. His club wasn't as effective as Teyla's P-90, but it did enough of a job giving the Tabaasan men pause as he flailed about where he could.

Someone's fist clipped his ear, and he winced, but struck out with his elbow in someone's groin as he went down. Dirty tactics, but sometimes you needed to be underhand.

Somehow - he was never sure exactly how - he found himself near Teyla as she lashed out at the men attacking her. Beyond her, Sheppard and Ford were also fending off the natives - with considerably more skill and grace than McKay.

"Teyla!" He yelled. "Go through the gate!"

Stupid, stubborn woman didn't move an inch as she swept a man's legs out from beneath him and took a step back. "But what about--?"

"If you go through the gate then we can deal with these and follow," Sheppard yelled. "Dammit, Teyla, just go!"

As she shoved the man trying to grope her into the ones behind, Rodney took the opportunity to step in front of her, giving her a moment in which to get through the Stargate unimpeded. Then someone punched him in the solar plexus.

Ow. Rodney was pretty sure he was going to yak his breakfast...

A moment later, there was a hand on his collar, hauling him back. It didn't help the nausea, but it gave him something else to think about for a few moments. His boot heels kicked out, trying to regain his balance as Sheppard slammed the muzzle end of his gun into a shoulder. "No need to get pushy, now," he snapped. "McKay?"

It took Rodney a moment to realise that the men had, if not stopped advancing, were at least not attacking. The little part of him that was always analysing the world around him said, That's interesting. The much bigger part of him that had taken a fist to the belly said, Ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow.

"Ow," he managed.

"Ford?"

"Retreating, sir." A moment later, there was a soft gurgle as Ford went through.

Two gone, two to go.

Sheppard faced the crowd and waved the P-90 in a way that was plainly threatening. "We're going to leave now," he said, in the tone of voice that meant he was really pissed. "And believe me, we'll think twice about coming back."

A few moments later they were on P72-U44, in the middle of a red desert.

The advantage of Stargate travel was that the cold had helped his gut. The disadvantage of Stargate travel was that now Rodney really felt like getting rid of his breakfast.

Still, he couldn't resist the chance to jibe Sheppard. "Only twice?"

He got a brief, solid glare from Sheppard. "This doesn't look like Atlantis."

Rodney stood up and took a deep breath. Various abdominal muscles protested vigorously, and he hunched back over. "That would because it isn't Atlantis, Major," he said dryly.

"Dr. McKay?" Teyla said, stepping past Ford and Sheppard to regard Rodney with concern. "You are injured?"

"Oh, it's nothing," he dismissed. "A slight bruise." He drew himself up, almost hoping that the pain wouldn't evince itself a second time, only to wince when it did. "Okay, it's a slight bruise that hurts a lot."

"They'll have something for it in the infirmary," Ford said, coming up beside Teyla.

"Which is in Atlantis," Sheppard said, "where we aren't. Rodney?"

Rodney regarded the other man with irritation. Just because Sheppard had gotten out of the wrong side of the wormhole was no reason to inflict his bad mood on others. "There wasn't time to send the shield code through before we had to get out of there, Major. It was here or on the backside of the shield." He grimaced. "Besides, even if we could have gone directly through, it would have been a bad idea."

"And why would that be?"

"Because I know what's happened to those people - and I know what's happening to Atlantis."

oOo