Chapter 11
Secrets
Brother Mede knocked on the door again. Murmurs and scrapes on the floor were heard through the thick wood. A very tall, blond man finally opened it.
Mede put his friendliest face forward and said, "Greetings, I am Brother Mede. Am I to understand you have papers to work the fields?"
The man appeared to be sizing him up and carefully weighing his answer. "Yes. We are experienced farmers."
"Excellent." Mede smiled warmly and he plunged in with the next question. "Am I to understand you are looking for refugees from your world?"
Once again, the man returned a carefully formed answer. "Yes…we are."
"May I ask the name of your world?" Mede waited and hoped that one of the worlds he now had memorized would be Col. Sheppard's. This was not the first door he had knocked on today.
"Kentucky."
"In my travels around the city today, I will keep an ear open. I have many people to see and am here but to serve."
The man returned a guarded smile.
"How many people do you have in your party?"
"Eight."
Mede nodded excitedly. "We will need everyone since there is so much to harvest. Meet at the western gate at dawn. Representatives of the abbey will escort you and others to the fields. Maybe some of your fellow citizens will be there." Brother Mede bowed to the man. "Oh, what is you name?"
"Halling."
"Tomorrow Halling."
"Tomorrow."
Mede left the common house with enough workers for the harvest. He congratulated himself on a successful completion of two tasks. Well, one he did not know if he was successful yet, but the chances were good. He was now going to meet up with his fellow brothers and enjoy the midday meal before returning to his responsibilities. Training could wait for a little while.
He entered a fairly large and popular tavern. He scanned the room and located his companions. They waved him over and pulled out a chair.
"Finished?" One young brother asked.
"Yes, with all the influx of visitors, it was quite easy." Mede accepted a drink from the barmaid.
The tone turned a little somber as they mulled over why there were so many visitors.
"A culling cannot be too far away. The Wraith seem to have gone mad. They are razing everything and leaving no one," said one of the brothers.
"From those I have talked to, they only escaped because they were off world or hidden where the Wraith just could not find them," added another occupant of the table.
"Will the Protectors be ready? Can they fend off the Wraith so at least a few will survive?"
"I am working very hard with all of them. They will be ready." Mede did not dare speak of his knowledge of the three he was trying to help.
And it appeared fate did not want him to forget them. At a corner booth Chancellor Refra entertained a few of his council members. Most of the men and women had been in office for many years, but he did not recognize one face.
"Who is that sitting next to Refra?"
"Oh that is a new special assistant to Chancellor Refra. Her home world was also recently culled." The brother gestured them to lean into the table. "I hear they share a little more than just advice." He grinned mischievously.
Mede looked at her. Something about her just did not sit well with him. "What is her name?"
"Arna Gezble."
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"No beer and no T.V. make John something something."
"Go crazy?"
"Don't mind if I do."
He gave an inebriated giggle to himself, because the joke was, he was the only one there.
They say talking to yourself is normal, but answering yourself is a sign of being crazy. He giggled again.
"Craaazy," he sang to himself, since he was the only one there- all alone.
Being a loner had its advantages but even a loner does not mind a little company every once in a while. In the little Rubik's Cube of doom, time had no meaning. He had faced down many an enemy. However, asking Mede how long they had been here was more terrifying than being pummeled in the forest. The confinement was getting to him. Isolation. Abandonment. And yes, loneliness.
"I need to get out. I need to get out. I need…"
Instantaneously, he was standing in an unfamiliar room. "…to get out."
Delirious joy engulfed him. The cubes must be Ancient after all. He repositioned himself to get a better look. This room looked Ancient. Non-Ancient portraits of different men and women adorned three of the walls. An ornate rack containing all the cubes took up the entire last wall. This must be the Vestibule.
One of his girlfriends dragged him to Mass once- spaghetti night. Free food always attracted the college age crowd. The prayer candles located in the narthex of the church caught his eye. They were electric. Instead of lighting a candle, the devoted pressed a button on top of the votive shaped, fake candle. It was ridiculous but practical- fire codes or something. The configuration of the cubes reminded him of that. The spaghetti had not been bad either.
Visually inspecting the cubes, he noticed one had a golden glow along with the red swirl. That one must be his. He reached for the cube next to his. A spike of energy raced up his arm and made it nearly disappear. It did not hurt; it just felt weird.
"Note to self, no touchee."
His attention was immediately turned to the door of the Vestibule. Voices and footsteps echoed from the outer room.
'OK let's not panic,' he thought. This was kind of like the little kid being caught out of bed by the strict babysitter. "Return," he quickly directed.
He giggled again like a little kid as he returned to his red sea of absence.
"I've--got--a--see--cret. I've--got--a--see--cret." He imagined a shit-eating grin spreading across his make-believe face.
In his timeless Rubik's Cube, giddiness and a dark humor possessed him. This gave him a mission and a possible means of escape. More importantly, it returned control back to him. Excellent.
The familiar disorienting pull landed him in the anti-chamber again along with Ronon and Teyla.
"I have enlisted many peoples from different worlds to work the fields," began Mede without any preamble. He started naming the world's and the peoples. "Meridia, Hoff, Manarians, Kentucky, the Gen…"
Sheppard guffawed, "Did you say Kentucky?"
"This is your home world?" Mede looked inquiringly at him.
"Not exactly. Just part of it. Did you get any names?" His giddiness was being overpowered by euphoria. He fought to keep himself in check.
"Just one, Halling."
A broad, happy smile spread across Teyla's face. "Faith Colonel. We must keep faith."
"What's next Mede?" Ronon asked swaying back and forth like an elephant in a small pen. He did not seem to share in the joy.
"Practice with your Facilitators. Today you learn to fly."
Eyebrows went up across each ghostly face.
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A/N: Came through just fine here. Just a few tornados and a some really heavy rain-nothing out of the ordinary. To you all who are still reading thanks for the patience. Oh yeah, Arna Gezble is from There Came a Big Spider.