In Idle Hands 3?
by Jennamajig

Present

"Elizabeth, as soon as Carson told them their president was dying, it was as if we committed treason. They must as well have been chasing us with pitchforks."

"You said they had stunners," Elizabeth countered.

"Okay, very big versions of a Wraith pitchfork. Either way, it doesn't really matter, because they were monumentally pissed off." Rodney started drumming the fingers of his right hand on the tabletop.

Elizabeth sighed. "I'm not getting the whole story here. Why couldn't Carson help?"

"That's just it. We don't know," Ford admitted. "Like I said, hell just broke loose. For people without any modern technology, they sure produced weapons and men pretty quickly."

"Which makes no sense, considering they didn't even know what penicillin was!" McMay's fingers picked up place on the briefing table.

"Rodney," Elizabeth warned, but Rodney's fingers continued to move. She figured that if he weren't already sitting down, he'd probably be pacing back and forth. McKay didn't do still very well, unless he was unconscious.

"They were not like any Wraith weapon I have seen," Teyla put in.

"They're no denying they've been there, though," Ford challenged.

"I agree," Teyla said, "and they are many different sectors of the Wraith."

"Developing different technology?" Elizabeth questioned.

"A Wraith's purpose is survival. I do not doubt that they would do anything for it."

"Of course they would. Living is what any organism wants to do." McKay's left hand joined his right.

"Dude," Ford warned and McKay's stared at his hands.

"Sorry," he muttered.

"What I'm getting here is bits and pieces. What happened to Major Sheppard?"

--

Ten and half hours Earlier

"He's been in there a while."

"I have a bad feeling about this."

"Um..."

Sheppard turned and was faced by four more men, bearing the same unknown weapon. He gripped his own firearm.

Again, not good. Oddly enough, when they managed to get back to the gate, John wondered if they would be chalking this up as another mission his team had managed to run into the Wraith, despite the fact that they'd yet to see a single one of the live-sucking creatures. Of course, that hardly mattered if they couldn't make it back to the gate at all.

"Change of plans," he told Ford. "We're grabbing Beckett and heading home."

"Past all them, sir?" Ford jerked his head toward their competition, which had now grown to eight.

"Teyla?"

"Yes?"

"Any idea what one of those things might do?"

She shook her head. "No."

"Well that's just dandy." John turned to look at McKay, who, for his part, had a tentative hand on his gun and a shaky expression.

Yep, so not good was looking like a very good summary of their current situation. They were outnumbered, which, yes, wasn't nice, but could be handled. It was the other major disadvantage of having no idea what kind of damage the enemy could inflict that really bothered him. Carson hadn't come out, but something told him whatever the doctor had done, the natives didn't like it.

The hallway seemed impossibly small.

Then it happened.

"It" consisted a series of events Sheppard would later have to think hard about to remember them and their exact order correctly. A door opened and Sheppard thought he heard Carson's unmistakable brogue, but he had no time to process it. A woman was shouting something he didn't understand, which seemed odd since this planet seemed to speak English. Men were moving and shots were fired, but they sounded like friendly fire. He yelled out to Ford, saw McKay duck and Teyla raise her gun.

The unknown weapons sounded like a mini sonic boom and when one fired, it left John's ears ringing. People were moving, but it seemed like he was watching a movie without the sound on. McKay was yelling at him. Ford had made it down the stairs. John turned towards the open door, determined to grab Beckett and go as he originally intended.

Another boom flew past his ear and he heard nothing.

--

Present

"We made it out the building. McKay managed to hotwire one of their vehicles while Teyla and I shielded him as well as we could. It was then that we realized the Major wasn't behind us. The eight men we'd originally been pinned up against became about forty. They chased us all the way to the gate." Aiden was silent a moment. "We couldn't go back alone."

Elizabeth laid her hands on the table. "You made the right decision, Lt."

"We need to go back." McKay's finger tapping had stopped, but the man was fidgeting, obviously restless. "I mean, we can't just leave Sheppard and Beckett out there."

"We have no idea what we are up against any more," Ford said simply, letting the military view play devil's advocate for a minute.

"So what? We have people. We have Wraith stunners."

"We have more than that," Teyla spoke up.

"We do?" McKay asked, brow furrowed. Elizabeth and Ford looked at her as well, each wearing their own look of puzzlement.

Teyla nodded. "We have this." With a single motion, she raised her hand and placed something on the briefing table. When she drew back, she revealed a small weapon, almost a travel-size version of the Wraith weapon the village possessed. It was not perfect, though. The barrel was slightly bent and the trigger seemed
broken.

"How did you...?"

"A soldier dropped it and I took it while we escaped. I know it appears broken, but perhaps it could still be of use."

McKay picked it up. "Of course it can. I, um, I need-"

"Go, Rodney," Elizabeth told him and the scientist scurried out of the room. She turned to Ford. "Assemble a rescue team. We'll reconvene when we have a little more information about their technology."

---------------

End Part 3...we'll check up on Carson and John in the next part :).