"This could be a problem…"
They'd come through the Stargate to the undesignated planet that Melony had encountered the Wraith on, and landed the Jumper a few miles from the gate – just to make sure it was out of the way in case a Wraith patrol should come by and stumble across it, even invisible. You never knew, after all. Then they'd all left the little ship, and it had promptly began raining – and the ground which had seemed dryer than it had when Mitchell had last been there immediately began to get soaked.
Jack wasn't the only one to look at Kale.
"Problem?"
"I cannot fly well in the rain. If my feathers get soaked, I'll have more trouble than usual."
Sheppard looked up at the cloudy sky.
"You wouldn't be able to see much from above, anyways, I'd imagine… not if you were high enough to be inconspicuous."
Suppressing his annoyance at losing an advantage he'd been hoping to have, Jack shrugged.
"There probably won't be any patrols out during a rainstorm anyways, but let's take a look around. I don't want to be surprised…"
Kale undressed, handing his clothes to Melony. At Jack's look, he smiled.
"My other form is more waterproof that the bird, and I can still scout ahead."
"What if the Wraith spot you?" Jack said, immediately showing that he'd already made the switch in his thinking that put Kale as one of his own team and was looking out for him like he would have anyone else, instead of just being annoyed with him for being so big, and… alien… and naked. "I don't want you getting into trouble ranging away from us."
"They cannot feed on animals, Colonel O'Neill." Kale said. "In my other forms, I am safe – and can spot them easier than if I remained in human form."
"He's right, Jack," Melony said, nodding. "The Wraith don't feed on animals."
"How do you know that?"
"One told me."
"You asked it?"
She smiled as Kale changed forms, obviously uncomfortable being naked in the rain.
"I was actually talking to myself – Talon, really – and it answered me. Came right up out of nowhere and surprised the hell out of me. But it told me that they don't feed on animals – only sentient creatures."
"Huh." Jack looked at Kale, who was still standing beside Melony. "Well, be careful anyways. They might make an exception."
The wolf-like creature nodded its head in a very non-wolf-like action, and headed for the closest stand of trees, his head down and his tail up.
"I didn't bring a pooper-scooper," Jack muttered, shaking his head. This was not a situation he'd ever have believed he'd find himself in… never.
Melony grinned, and hefted her P90, while the others did the same. Falling into position, with Teyla and Teal'c on the flanks and Sheppard on rear guard, she and O'Neill headed out towards the same grove of trees, where Kale had just vanished.
OOOOOOOO
By the time it was starting to get dark – although it had been gray and rainy all day – they'd established that there weren't any Wraith in the nearby area. Mitchell had taken them to the site of her last encounter with the Wraith, but there hadn't been a sign that anyone had been there before and that anyone had been there since. Not surprising, really, since the rain would have washed that away fairly quickly.
"We'll see how it looks tomorrow," Jack said, as they all headed back for the Jumper. They would camp out in the ship, because none of them relished the thought of sleeping on the wet ground if they didn't have to. With the cloak in place, they really wouldn't even need to stand watch – although they would, anyways, because none of them liked the idea of maybe having Wraith sneak up on them in the dark, drawn by Mitchell and Teal'c's added life force – or just pure dumb luck.
"Hopefully it will stop raining," Teyla said. It was as close as she'd come to complaining.
"It's going to smell like wet dog all night," Jack said, looking at Kale, who was shaking himself, water spraying in all directions from his shaggy fur.
Mitchell smiled, and a moment later the Light One reappeared, still soaked, but far less furry.
"Let's get some dinner," Melony said, heading onto the Jumper. "I'm starving."
OOOOOOOO
"I'm not sure I like being this close to this thing…"
Sam looked over at McKay, who was standing beside her and in front of the Wraith dart that had been brought into the Lava Base.
"It's not going to blow up."
He scowled.
"That's not what I mean."
"What do you mean, then?"
Rodney hesitated, but then shrugged, noticing that Ford was watching as well as he directed his security force into several positions, all of them ignoring the Mok, which had once more wandered into the main cavern – although none of them could find any droppings, so as long as it was house trained they weren't going to complain. Besides, the thing weighed a lot more than any of them, and if it didn't want to be moved, none of them were going to be able to move it.
"It doesn't matter, I suppose," Rodney said. Just because he felt dread whenever he looked at the deadly little ship didn't mean there was any reason not to want to check it out. It would probably wield a lot of technology that they'd be able to use. Or at least give them an understanding of their newest enemy. "How does the metal melt like that to open the hatch?"
Sam shrugged, and reached out, touching the panel that caused it to happen. They both watched, impressed, as the hatch reformed, once more a solid piece of who knew what kind of metal.
"I'd say that's one of the things we'll want to check out, huh?"
"Yeah."
Of course, so was everything else.
"We'd better get to it. I'd like to have something to report by the time General O'Neill and the others find us more to study."
She touched the panel again, and the ship opened once more. Taking a large lantern, Sam stepped up into the craft, followed only a moment later by McKay.