Chapter 3

Thanks to Kodiak and Merlin, my wonderful betas! All mistakes are my own...

"Please, do not hurt us. We are old and frail, and have nothing of value for you to take," an aged voice implored.

Sheppard pointed the light on his P90 at a shadowy figure standing in front him. A smaller one cowered behind, the former sheltering the latter. Sheppard surmised the couple presumed they were hostile intruders.

The pilot eyed the two natives and lowered his gun. He held up his left hand, trying to calm the two frightened people. "Hey, it's ok. We're not here to harm anyone. We were just looking for shelter from the storm. We saw this cave and thought we'd stay here until it's blown over," he explained calmly to the two figures. "We are peaceful explorers and traders. We came through the Stargate."

"You came through the Ring of the Ancestors?" was the startled reply.

"Yes. I'm John Sheppard, this is Teyla Emmagen," Sheppard pointed at the Athosian, the Sedatan and finally at his favourite scientist. "That's Ronon Dex and last, but never least, Dr. Rodney McKay"

"I am Jamos, and this is my wife Marrin," Sheppard studied the small, hunched over elderly man who had introduced himself and his spouse. He noticed the woman behind Jamos was smaller, but looked somewhat sturdier than her husband.

"Pleased to meet you. If you want us to leave, we will. Though I gotta tell you, I'd rather not go outside in that storm." No kidding, Sheppard thought to himself. If the natives didn't want them to stay, he knew they would be in real trouble – again.

Sheppard's thoughts were interrupted by the woman, who stepped forward smiling graciously at the colonel, "No of course not. You must stay. It is far too dangerous to venture outside. Come, come … follow me. I will brew you some of my berry-root tea, and you may warm yourselves by the stove."

The members of the bedraggled team followed the elderly couple into the room they had peered at a few minutes earlier.

Sheppard smiled warmly at the woman, "Thank you for your hospitality. We appreciate it." At least this couple seemed friendly and unlikely to be dangerous, though the pilot knew only too well the Pegasus Galaxy was full of unpleasant surprises.

The pilot watched as Teyla bowed her head at the couple, addressing the elderly woman, as she offered her thanks, "Yes, thank you Marrin, Jamos. Do you often suffer storms such as these?"

The old woman turned to answer, and Sheppard saw her nod at the Athosian, "Oh Yes. That is why we live in the caves. It is not safe to live outside. The storms come and go without warning and are devastating, often lasting for several days. Many of our people have been lost in storms such as this one." Marrin looked sadly into Teyla's eyes and shook her head. "We are used to it, and it is a small price to pay to evade the Wraith."

Teyla smiled sympathetically at the elderly woman, "I am sorry. It must be very hard for your people."

Out of the corner of his eye, Sheppard noticed McKay suddenly lift his head and watched as the scientist turned to the woman and held up his hands in surprise. "You stay here to avoid the Wraith? They don't come here because of the storms, or they don't know you're here because of the caves blocking their scans?" McKay blustered, firing questions at the unsuspecting couple.

Sheppard gave McKay one of his 'shut up, Rodney' glares, and smiled at Marrin and Jamos. "You'll have to excuse Dr McKay, he gets a little carried away at times…."

An extremely irate McKay interrupted Sheppard, "I do not. I was just asking…"

"Rodney, shut up," Sheppard hissed through clenched teeth, speaking it out loud this time.

"It is alright, Colonel. Yes, to both questions," Jamos answered, smiling at McKay as he did so.

After drinking the offered tea and drying out, Marrin offered the weary travellers some stew, which McKay and Ronon gratefully accepted, and consumed with great gusto. It was a lovely, warming, yet simple meal, and Sheppard uncharacteristically ate it with great relish.

As the scientist and warrior settled down to doze after their large meal, Jamos having already slipped into a light slumber, Sheppard walked over to Marrin and warmly smiled. "Thank you again for your generous hospitality. My team certainly seems to have appreciated your cooking." He laughed, gesturing towards the two sleeping figures of McKay and Ronon, sprawled on the rustic, though comfortable looking chairs, alongside the older man.

"You are most welcome, Colonel. However, I must awaken my husband from his slumber. He still has to mend the shelf he was trying to repair when you startled us earlier. I have asked him many times to undertake this task, and he will use any excuse to avoid mending it," Marrin complained to Sheppard.

The pilot observed the elderly woman, then cocked his head to one side, and shyly smiled. "Hey, don't wake him up. If you need help, then I'll fix your shelf. It's the least I can do after the generosity you've shown us. I'm a whiz at home improvement."

Marrin gave the colonel a quizzical look. "I do not understand what you speak of. What is this 'home improvement'?"

Sheppard realised his words had confused the woman, and smiled, while explaining, "It's an expression where I come from, concerning all improvements to the home. Lead the way." He grinned at the elderly woman, and turned to call to Teyla, who was still washing dishes from the lunch they had eaten earlier. "Hey, I'm just helping Marrin with some stuff. Be back soon!"

The Athosian looked up from her chore, and nodded her head at the colonel. "Very well."

Sheppard followed Marrin to a small larder a few doors down the hall of the cave, and whistled when the woman pointed out a lopsided shelf, which had fallen on one side and was resting on top of a lower one. It was situated some twelve feet up, Sheppard guessed. The room was small, yet had numerous shelves reaching up to the extremely high ceiling. "Wow, no wonder Jamos has been putting this off…Ok, I can do this. I love heights," he assured himself.

Marrin handed the pilot a crude hammer and thick metal tacks and pointed to a very long, dirty and somewhat delicate looking ladder. "You can use Jamos' ladder. It has been in his family for many generations. It was crafted from a tree from the time of the Ancestors," the woman proudly explained.

"Yeah, I can see that," he muttered. "Ok, here goes…"

Sheppard placed the ladder in a couple of strategically placed holes in the floor and gingerly began to climb the aged ladder. This ladder sure is frail looking, he thought to himself, while hoping it would take his weight. Jamos and Marrin were very short, slight people and the thought crossed his mind that the elderly couple's people could all be small. It was possible that the ladder might not be designed to withstand the weight of a person of his own stature.

When he was just below the shelf, he proceeded to level it out and quickly hammered the tacks home. "How's that?" he enquired of the woman below. He critically eyed his handiwork, not bad, he thought to himself.

"Oh, that's excellent Colonel. Thank you so much. I wonder, would you be so kind as to bring that empty jar on the shelf above down with you?" Marrin politely asked.

"Ah, okay." He tried to reach the shelf above, but his fingertips just brushed it. "I need to climb a little higher. Hang on a minute…"

He climbed another rung of the ladder, but was surprised to hear an audible snap as it disintegrated beneath his foot. The ladder decided it really didn't like the pilot being on it, and swayed slightly back and forth, creaking ominously. Sheppard desperately clung to the sides of the ladder as his feet tried to find purchase on another rung. As his right foot found a lower one, he was horrified to feel that snapping too. His foot slipped through the wooden slat and he lost his grip on the ladder. Plunging downward, his feet crashed through rung after rung as he fell, leaving dangerous shards of wood in their wake. His hands groped at the sides of the ladder, trying to slow his descent, and he cried out as large splinters drove into his hands. He was aware of a sharp, searing pain in his right thigh, and gasped on hearing the snap of bones in his left wrist as he protected his head from smashing against the floor.

Oh, crap, was the last thing he thought before he lost consciousness…

Tbc