WINTER WONDERLAND
By NotTasha

CHAPTER 4: SKIDDING

The snowmobiles sped across the white plain. Akhiok had called the machine a 'skid' but Sheppard still thought of them as snowmobiles. Ford, having chosen the first skid, ended up straddling a seat behind Karluk. Sheppard, sadly, ended up sandwiched between Akhiok and McKay – not a position he relished, but he'd be damned if he'd sit on the back of the machine. It was McKay's fault of course. He'd been last to reach the skids and had to make the choice of where to ride.

From this position, Sheppard could look around the Ekukian and watch him manipulate the vehicle and figure out how to drive the thing -- reason enough to be in the second seat. At least he didn't have Rodney clutching him around the middle – the seats had backrests, and handgrips were cleverly placed along the sides -- making their journey a bit less embarrassing.

The machine ran remarkably well, and the engine responded happily as Akhiok gunned it. The controls were easy to understand, and Sheppard nodded to himself as Akhiok guided the vehicles over hillocks and dips.

Speaking of dips, he could hear McKay's little exclamations every time they took air and jounced over the snowy ground. Sheppard couldn't help but smile at the strangely happy curses.

Karluk kept up with them -- sometimes riding beside them, plowing through the snow -- sometimes Karluk's skid fell in behind. Sheppard caught sight of Ford grinning like an idiot, laughing out loud as he glanced across at them – laughing at McKay probably. John took a glance behind him, finding McKay smirking blissfully, and clinging onto the grips as if his life depended on it.

They were going up – following trails left by the others – steadily climbing to the top of the highest hill in the area. Sheppard took a moment to adjust his sunglasses again, and wished he'd brought goggles. Akhiok had offered up a spare set, and McKay had been quick to snatch them up – crude things – made from leather and some scratched plastic that had been scavenged from a trade item, no doubt. Rodney looked like an idiot in goggles – especially with the proud smirk he'd worn upon donning them. McKay could have them, John figured. Still, he couldn't help but be a little jealous as the ice stung at his eyes.

The ride was … great, god-damn fucking great, Sheppard decided. A little snow was falling, just tiny, rice-sized bits, floating calmly to the ground. The wind was cold on his face – numbing his cheeks, but he was rather comfortable, all things considered. It was like someone's dream of winter – cold and white – snow everywhere. The landscape was Christmas Card gorgeous. God, he loved this! He grinned until his teeth showed. It had been ages since he'd been able to get out and just have fun. How long had it been? Hell, even during his years in Antarctica he'd rarely been able to get outside.

Akhiok took another mogul, and the machine was airborne for a moment – and a 'whoop' escaped Sheppard. They plowed up and over another hummock, landing with a 'whump', and a squeak from McKay, and suddenly they had reached the top of the world – and caught up with the rest of their group.

The others in their party stood a short distance from them. They raised their arms in greeting, and great shouts of camaraderie went up. Akhiok jumped from his seat, ran toward the others and clomped to his friends, greeting them with bear hugs.

The group huddled together. They patted each other on the backs, talking quietly, probably discussing the hunt, maybe commenting on the squealing of certain passengers. Several held weapons -- not simple, pointed sticks, but something closer to harpoon guns. Around them, dogs lounged on the snow – big white dogs that seemed to be a cross between Malamutes, Mastiffs and Irish Wolfhounds, but with the fluffy fur of Malamutes.

"Sure are an expressive bunch," McKay muttered. He struggled to shove the goggles up, as more hugging took place with the bunch. His bulky gloves and the fleecy cap didn't help him with his action, but he managed it after a fashion. Stiffly, he tried to get off the back of the machine, but just couldn't get his leg lifted over the seat.

Sheppard sighed, realizing that there was no sense waiting for McKay to get out of the way, and quickly disembarked from the skid, leaving Rodney to struggle.

Sheppard gazed off into the distance, to where the ground dropped away and the white world went on beyond that. It was gorgeous, he decided. Just as pretty as anything. They were quite a ways up. The snow still fell, slow and mesmerizing, like a dance in the wind. Trees, half buried, stood out in the white. Something brown – maybe rocks of various brown hues – cluttered the valley. Little else broke the cool snowy cover.

Ford joined them as Rodney finally got to his feet. The lieutenant was grinning like a madman. "Okay," he uttered. "That was cool!"

"Cool," Sheppard repeated with a nod. "Yup."

"Think they'll let us give it a try?" Ford asked excitedly.

John gave him a smile as he dipped his head. "We'll see what we can arrange. Don't know if we should let McKay at the controls. We know how he tends to weave when he's driving." He made a 'fish-tailing' gesture with one hand, and turned to the scientist with a grin.

Rodney gave him an annoyed look. "At least I'd be able to get us home," he responded sharply.

"Hey!" Sheppard responded sharply. "I was paying attention to where we were going! The Gate is…" he took a moment to get his bearings. "That way!" and he pointed.

With a shake of the head, Rodney crossed his arms over his puffy red chest and tsked.

Sheppard scowled. "I'll prove it," he growled and strode closer to the edge of the cliff that separated them from the valley. He squinted when he reached a safe distance from the end. His finger still pointed, but at nothing. Okay, the Ring of the Ancients wasn't where he expected it to be. "So, I'm off a bit. Bet it's just behind that big brown rock."

"You sure that's a rock, Major?" Ford asked. "Because it's kinda moving."

He cocked his head at the big thing when he saw it move. He waited a moment to be sure. Far down below, it shambled, kicking up snow and tossing its big head about. A big, furry, moving rock. "Okay…okay… that's a big freaking tapa."

"We're hunting those things?" McKay cried. "Oh, God. There's six of them down there. How do they expect us to…"

"Friends!" Akhiok shouted as he clomped toward them. "Friends, we have spotted our quarry!" He gestured toward the beasts that they'd already seen. "Unfortunately they are poorly placed." He sighed. "We would have preferred to find them on the other side of Big Snowy." He pointed to his feet to indicated the snowy mound beneath them.

"Why would you want to find them over there?" Ford asked.

"Ah, because it would have been easier to make the kill," Akhiok explained. "We would have simply herded them up the sloped side of the hill and…" He made a gesture with his hand, like pushing something toward the cliff. "…we'd run the entire herd right off the edge."

McKay gulped and leaned forward to get a good look at the descent. "That hardly seems sporting!" he declared as he edged back. "It's barbaric!"

"Such a kill would supply us with enough meat to trade for whatever we wanted," Akhiok quickly countered. "And would be quickly done with little danger to our people. You do want to barter for meat?"

"Yeah, McKay," Sheppard added. "You seemed to like those kabobs from last night. You know, meat doesn't grow on trees."

Rodney put his hands on his hips – making him look even puffier. "Well, yes, I know. But I, like most rational people, would rather not have to deal with messy steps involved."

"You think poking them with sticks is any less messy?" Ford asked.

"Just seems to give them a fighting chance, that's all," Rodney added. The goggles started to slip into his eyes and he shoved them back up onto his cap again, sighing with frustration.

"True, true," the Ekukian responded. "But we won't be using the hard fall. They're in the wrong place. But we know where they are and can plan our strategy. Now, we will need to return to the valley and surround the tapas." He held out his arms, as if to encircle the creatures he was talking about. He paused to look up at the others. "We shall use our skids and our itnas to chase them down."

"Ah… dare I ask…?" McKay started, "What is an itna?"

"Itnas?" Akhiok repeated, his grin filling his face. He turned toward the other Ekukians and whistled sharply. The big white dogs came to attention. Akhiok whistled again, changing the tone, and about three of the smallish ones started toward him at a happy trot. The rest, the bigger ones, were restrained on ropes and seemed annoyed that they couldn't join the loose ones.

Sheppard frowned, watching the dogs move. There was something damn familiar about them. Maybe it was just a memory of home, and he smiled slightly as the doggies jogged toward them. It was rather nice, he thought, to have something as normal as dogs in this world. But his smile dropped when he heard a strange, strangled, "Oh, God," come from beside him.

Sheppard turned to see Rodney's red back as he took off, trying to run through the thick snow back to the snow-skids. "McKay?" John called. "What the hell are you doing?"

The dogs, trotting toward their master, hesitated, looking at the big red target in movement. They gazed a moment at the running man, their tongues lolling as if they were sharing a joke, and then changed direction.

Akhiok let out an exasperated sigh as the dogs chased after the scientist. He whistled again, but the animals didn't stop – instead they picked up their pace. "They are not always as responsive as I'd like," Akhiok admitted, chagrinned. "They hunt by sight and will chase down anything that moves."

"McKay!" Sheppard shouted at the evading Canadian. "If you just stop running around like an ass, they'll leave you alone!"

The rest of the Ekukians had stopped their conversation and were watching the itnas' behavior in silence. Rodney had made it to the closest snowmobile, and the animals separated to circle around and contain him. The dogs leaped and dodged, bowing and wagging their tails furiously at the game. Rodney stopped, looked around frantically and jumped onto the running board of the skid.

Sheppard shook his head with a smirk, finding some amusement at his teammate's antics, until he got a good look at the man. "Rodney?" McKay's eyes were wide, and his face drawn in terror as he stumbled, trying to get away.

Sheppard watched in curiosity for a moment, then called "Call them off." As Akhiok whistled again, John stepped forward. "Rodney!" he shouted, concerned. "Just stop moving and they'll leave you alone. They're just playing!" He tried to get closer, but the group's erratic movements brought them further away from him, following the hilltop.

"Yeah, Dr. McKay," Ford added. "They're just having some fun." And he chuckled a bit at the scientist's predicament.

Akhiok whistled again. He laughed at the gyrations of the animals, then shouted a command. The dogs hesitated a moment, seeming to think over whether or not they should obey. They looked to their man, mouths open, showing off their teeth. Only one of the three came to Akhiok. The other two continued their torment of McKay.

Rodney kept running, dodging and feinting, trying to get away.

"McKay!" Sheppard shouted. "Stop moving! Your just encouraging them!" He made a step in their direction as Rodney darted through the snow, with the dogs right behind him – they herded him in one direction.

"Damn it," Sheppard muttered. "Stop!"

But Rodney wouldn't stop running about, and the dogs wouldn't leave him alone.

"McKay!" Sheppard tried again, his face growing red as he shouted.

The animals kept after Rodney. They seemed intelligent in their attempts to catch him, determined to not allow his escape. They yipped, calling and then they started uttering an uncanny, guttural laugh.

The sound brought Sheppard up short. Oh God… he turned toward Ford, who hadn't moved far. The dogs made the sound again -- that familiar horrible chuckle of the devil dogs. A new chill found him – he felt cold to the bone.

Ford went a little pale as his eyes widened in recognition. "Oh shit…" was all Aiden could say.

Sheppard spun about, spotting the one itna that had obeyed Akhiok. It lay on its stomach at the Ekukian's feet, gazing up at him with strangely blue eyes, gibbering quietly as it stretched out its neck in submission. "Good boy," Akhiok crooned at the animal. "You're my special one, aren't you?"

The last time Sheppard had seen animals of this sort, the creatures were starved, nearly bald, and burned by the sun. They'd been wild and savage. The last time he'd come across them, they'd nearly killed McKay – had almost torn him to pieces.

The creatures were growling. Their teeth shone. They weren't playing any longer.

"Call them off!" Sheppard demanded, striding toward Akhiok. "Now! This isn't funny! Call them back, NOW!" He pulled his berretta from its holster. "Stop them, now, or I'll do it myself!"

The two animals kept chasing as McKay galumphed through the snow. He flapped his arms at them, trying to get them off. His goggles had fallen down over his eyes, and he should have looked ridiculous as he moved about, panicked, with dogs leaping at him, snapping. They hung onto his coat, determined to bring him down.

At the sight of the weapon, Akhiok's eyes went wide. "It's only play," he insisted. "He won't be harmed. They're playful pups." He pointed to the one at his feet, that rolled onto it's back, exposing its belly. "They don't always listen to commands, but they are good animals."

But they didn't seem playful anymore as they tugged at Rodney's coat – they seemed absolutely determined to bring him down.

Nightmares of their time on the island world returned to Sheppard – devil dogs, with their pink skin and blue eyes, their awful laughing. They'd torn into McKay. He remembered Rodney ripped up and bleeding, almost dying. Vividly, Sheppard remembered how one of the things tried to drag McKay into the undergrowth to finish him.

Sheppard leveled his weapon at the nearest one as it leaped, biting onto McKay's flailing sleeves and trying to yank him down. Rodney managed to fling the animal off, and spun about to get away from the other. The major drew a bead on it as it clamped onto that stupid red jacket– and he sucked in his breath in disbelief as man and animal simply disappeared.

McKay made only a started sound – something like a 'yipe!' that was quickly carried away.

John lowered the weapon, astonished, as everyone around him shouted, putting up a tremendous ruckus. The last pursuing dog cocked its head, looking about in confusion for its playmates. The major spun toward Ford, demanding answers. The young lieutenant yelled frantically as he ran, "He went over the cliff! He went over the edge!"

TBC

A/N: DAH-DAH-DUM!! Oh, and now I can tell you that this is a sequel to my story "Paradise". which is also available at this site