Chapter 13: First Day of "Camp"

Lorne stepped out of the Gate, walked down the few steps in front of him, and then quickly set Lexa on the ground. The two scanned the area for any sign of the Wraith, but both came up empty. Lexa nodded her head sarcastically, "Okay, now what?" You think they'd be keeping an eye on the Gate."

"Well, according to Colonel Sheppard, they were attacked as they neared the village, so…" Marc motioned for her to move ahead of him, "off to the village we go. After you."

Lexa didn't move, "You sure about that?" She looked past him.

Lorne turned to see three Wraith coming up on their position. "Right, well, here we go." He turned back to Lexa and gave her a nod of reassurance. She took a deep breath and nodded back. They both then repositioned themselves so they were facing the on coming trio. They held their ground and remained expressionless as the brutes stepped closer.

The leader stood in front of them, only inches away, as the other two took flanking positions to prevent Marc and Lexa from retreating. The leader looked back and fourth between them, before looking Lexa up and down, and finally fixing his eyes on Marc. He snarled before he spoke, "You're the workers from Largos?" Lorne simply nodded, unsure what to say. The leader stepped closer, getting right in Lorne's face, "You're late!" He gestured to the lackey next to Lexa, who grabbed her and pulled her close. "We don't like to be kept waiting!" He stepped over to Lexa and slid a finger down her face.

Marc was being eaten up inside, but he could not let it get to him, or show any worry. He kept his cool and finally spoke, stealing the leader's attention, "All we can do is apologize, we should not have been late, we are sorry."

"As you should be!" The leader pushed Lorne forward, "Move!" The three Wraith escorted them to the village.

As they entered the village, or "Wraith Camp" as Lexa called it, she couldn't believe her eyes. She had seen the camp in her vision, but it was way more intense in person. Marc caught her eye and immediately knew it was taking everything in her to not kill every Wraith present. He quickly threw her a copasetic look and hoped she'd be able to last their ten days there. They continued walking and were soon ushered into an extravagant tent. Lexa and Marc were pushed to their knees as another Wraith walked up. "Ah, Rolik, I see you found our new workers. And what was their excuse for being late," he asked in their usual telepathic manner.

The leader too used telepathy to answer, "They didn't have one Malaas. All he offered was an apology." Rolik nodded toward Lorne. Malaas, who was obviously the head of the camp, grabbed Marc by the collar and pulled him up. Lexa's face turned slightly sour as she watched, but she kept to her place on the floor. Keeping to his training, Lorne didn't flinch, and he looked the Wraith straight in the eye. "You're late, and you give an apology, but no reason… You are not like the others. Most of the workers just start mumbling and begging for forgiveness." Malaas released Lorne as he looked down at Lexa, "And what of this one?"

Lorne hesitated, being thrown off by the Wraith, and Lexa quickly stepped in as she stood up, "I am Mareena, Reilan's sister." Although Lexa was very upset with the atrocities she had seen, she was keeping herself together and was able to remember the cover they had planned.

Malaas moved closer to her, "Mareena? How very, pretty you are, and just like your brother it seems. Well, I believe we have some jobs for you both." He nodded to Rolik who led them out of the tent.

As Rolik lead them to their posts he filled them in on what specific jobs they were being given. He started with Lorne, "You are strong, and since we do not see that very often you are being placed as a guard. You will be expected to keep the villagers in line and punish them when necessary. As for you," he moved on to Lexa, "you will tend to our trophies and our sand bags." He stopped to look Lexa in the eye as he could tell she was confused. "You will be an aid to the woman we indulge in and the men we practice upon." Lexa quickly looked to the ground as she clenched her teeth in anger. "You will also come to Malaas when he demands, our leader whom you just met, as he has chosen you to be one of his personal attendees."

"And what exactly does that mean?" Marc broke his silence as he was fearful for Lexa's well being.

"That is of no concern to you, but be assured that Mareena will be in capable hands." Rolik lifted Lexa's chin to look at her, "But don't worry, those duties won't be asked of you for a few days, as Malaas wants you to become acclimated first."

Lexa looked the fowl beast in the eye, showing no fear. A few days, looks like I get to kill him sooner than I expected. She finally spoke, keeping to her cover, "It will be an honor."

"Good girl." Rolik ran his hand from her chin, down her neck, and to her shoulder. He removed his hand, and then turned to walk on. Lexa shuddered in disgust as he turned his back. They continued and soon came upon one of the human guards, who dropped to one knee as they approached. Rolik pushed Marc ahead of him, "This one is to join you." The guard rose to his feet, nodded, and directed Lorne into a nearby tent.

Marc stepped into the small tent and looked around. There were several cots pushed towards the perimeter and a table in the middle. The guard walked up to the table and picked up and whip and a small dagger. "Here, these are your weapons."

Lorne was surprised to receive any weapons at all, but he took them and thanked the guard. "I'm Reilan, and you are?"

The guard was hesitant to answer, and after stuttering a bit, finally answered, "Aarhus, but do not grow accustom to calling me that, especially when the Wraith are around. There are a few things you need to get used to around here, and one of them is not having a name."

Rolik lead Lexa a few more yards down the main path through the camp and stopped in front of a large tent. "You will start off here." A teenage girl emerged from the tent and bowed her head to Rolik. "She'll show you what you need to do. You will have dinner soon, and unless otherwise told, you will stay in this tent when it is dark." Rolik gave the girl a once over and then left.

The girl walked back into the tent and Lexa followed. She looked around and instantly noticed that nearly all of the girls were around the same age, probably ranging from about sixteen to twenty-five. Lexa was disgusted and immediately started speaking to the girl who led her in," What's your name?" It was obvious that the girl was not used to being spoken to and allowed to answer, she simply stared at the ground. "It's okay, I'm a friend, I'm here to help." Lexa was determined to get the girl to open up.

The girl looked up, "Help?"

Lexa nodded and put a hand on her shoulder, "Yes, help. I'll get you out of here, I promise." Lexa motioned for her to sit as she pulled over another chair for herself. "My name is Mareena, what's yours?"

"Kaali." She couldn't believe her ears, "Are you serious? You can help us?"

"I will do my best, but yes, that's why I'm here." Lexa was changing up the mission plans just a bit, but with the fact that she was going to be a servant to Malaas, she had to act quickly.

After dark, all of the villagers and workers were confined to their tents, with the exception of the guards. This meant that Marc was on patrols, and Lexa had to be careful when trying to talk with him. She snuck out, and finally caught up with him as she hid in the brush. "Psst! Hey, baby," she whispered as loud as possible, but not too loud as to be heard by the Wraith, "Over here."

Lorne turned around, "Lexa, what the hell are you doing?" He quickly jogged over and ducked down with her. "This is a very bad idea."

"Yeah well, I just thought you should know, I'm changing the mission. I walked into that tent, and… We have to get them out of here. Besides, once Malaas has me called to serve him, you can bet I'm gonna do something rash."

"Lexa… As much as I don't want him anywhere near you, we are here to gather intel. The Wraith talk about everything here. Just in one afternoon, I've gotten an earful."

"Well that's good, then we can cut the mission short. Besides, I promised Kaali that I'd take her back with us." Lexa had made quick friends with the younger girl.

"You didn't? Lexa, you knew this was going to be hard, you promised me…"

"You don't understand, what's left of her people are on Atlantis, or, at least on the main land. She knows Teyla through a man named Orin."

Marc sighed and kissed her forehead, "Alright, what's your plan?"