A/N: I give you hugs and thanks for all the reviews that make me happy and keep me motivated. Now on to more exciting stuff.
I also apologize for the delay. First it wouldn't load, then I couldn't get on the Internet because our phones were down.
20
John stared at Teyla incomprehensibly. " Here? As in here here? On this world? Close by?"
Teyla's head jerked in a stiff nod. " I am just now sensing them, but they feel near."
" Son of a...!" John didn't let himself finish in order to save his breath to tear up the winding stairs while tapping his radio.
" McKay! Where are you?"
" Making exceptionally slow progress to the back door of the house. Guards keep popping like fleas on my cat..."
" McKay! Listen to me. Don't go outside. Head back to the main entrance and meet us there."
" Why?"
" Just do it! Now!"
John rushed through the dungeon door and passed his bewildered team, negotiating the halls back to the front entrance and nearly colliding into the door before stopping. He opened the door barely a crack and did a quick scan outside. He heard the clatter of feet coming up behind and slowing, but didn't glance back.
" Sir?" said Stackhouse. John held up his hand for silence, and within that silence he caught the distant but steadily climbing mosquito whine of darts. John shoved the door shut and bolted the locks. " Okay, we've got a big freakin' problem." He backed away from the door and turned to face the others, his eyes going straight to the still twitching Harl.
" Well, it's official," he said, smiling nastily. " The wraith really do like to be punctual." He tapped his radio again. " McKay?"
" We're coming!"
Sure enough, when John looked up, it was to see the rest of his team hurrying down the hall straight toward them. At the same time, John's radio crackled to life.
" Colonel Sheppard?" it was Weir's voice. " Come in..."
" I copy you. Wraith?"
" Um... yes, actually."
Rodney paled. " Wraith?"
John shot him a scathing look to be quiet. " You wouldn't happen to see any wandering around on the ground, would you?"
" Not yet."
" Great. We're on our way, Sheppard out." He passed his eyes over the group for a quick head count, and nodded. " All right, let's go while we still can."
" What about him, sir?" Lorne asked, jerking his thumb at Harl. The little man's face shone with a solid sheen of sweat and drops sliding down his face.
" We bring him along in case his guards try to make things difficult, then dump him."
" What!" Harl whined, trying to pull away from the iron grip of the marine. " No, you can't...!"
John gave him a cold, pointed look. " Gee, Harl, why so scared? I thought your boss had the wraith under control. I mean he is the one who called 'em here, and being your leader and all I thought you'd have a little more faith in him."
Again Harl tried to pull away. " He's a fool! He has doomed us all! I – I tried to warn him..."
McKay snorted. " Your very highly despised boss but and yet not your people. I think you really need to reconsider your priorities."
" Screw this, let's just go," John said, turning back to the door. Ronon was already there, peering out as Sheppard had done a moment ago. He looked over his shoulder at John, and as usual his face was unreadable.
" Problem Sheppard."
John just stared at him, then tilted his head back to cuss at the ceiling. " Son of a bitch!" He dropped his head back down and went over to the door. Peering out, he saw a flash of white and dead pale flesh through the trees.
" Weir to Sheppard," came Elizabeth's voice over the radio.
" Copy it. Dr. Weir. Let me guess. Wraith are on the ground."
Silence for a moment then, " Sure telepathy isn't contagious? What are we going to do?"
John started rubbing the back of his neck, thinking as fast as his heart was pounding. He glanced back at his team and their expectant and nervous faces. His eyes, - again – fixed on Harl, and ideas clicked into place. He tapped his radio.
" Jumper two, this is Sheppard. Change of plans here. I need you to go in cloaked to the gate. If it's not dialed in, then dial it in. P4-578 should do it. It's uninhabited but safe. If it is dialed in, wait until it shuts down then dial in and make sure it remains active. Got it?"
" Copy sir?"
" John, what are you doing?" Came Weir's voice.
" Right now just trying to make sure we survive. Look, if the alarms worked then the locals shouldn't be out in the open for the wraith to feed on. Hopefully, the lack of any human cattle to eat should send them packing early. All we need to do is wait them out. So stay in the jumper and remain cloaked."
" Lt. Colonel!" Weir snapped
" Look, if we go out there then the wraith get what they want and we're all screwed. This world was equipped with the means to handle the wraith and we plan on using those means. We'll be fine."
" You don't know that."
" Well, right now it's all we've got. We'll try to head back as soon as we can, then we can hightail it out of here as long as jumper two's able to keep the gate open. This is the only plan I got that makes sure we all get out alive. If you have a better idea then I'm all ears."
Silence, then, " All right. Just be safe."
" I don't think any of us have the intention as going out as lunch. Sheppard out." John then went straight to Harl, who shrank back shivering. He raised his gun to Harl's Forehead. " You wanna live?"
Harl swallowed, jerking and tugging to try and loosen the marine's hold. " W-w-w-what is the point? You will only leave me to the wraith in the end."
" Where's the tunnel?" John asked. Harl ceased struggling and narrowed his eyes.
" You might as well just shoot me..."
" Got it!" Kace announced. " But we've gotta move fast. It's all the way at the other side of the house."
Smirking like the cat who got the canary without the evidence to prove it, John lowered his gun. " Lead the way Kace."
" Gladly."
Harl was never even given the chance to splutter out his shock when the marine jerked him around to follow the rest of the team. John hung back to take up point at the rear. They moved fast through the over-sized corridors, shooting glances out the windows toward the woods and open yards. So far the wraith appeared to be keeping to the trees, which confirmed what John had been suspecting. The wraith were spreading out, keeping to the shadows and the woods, waiting for the signal to go and start culling and feeding. And with no Atlantean team to present to the wraith queen, the signal would probably come within the next ten minutes. Unless the queen liked to watch her meals beg, then fifteen at most.
But where are all the guards? Not counting the ones inside already taken out (still unconscious thanks to Ronon's stunner) John should have caught sight of a human prowling around outside, maybe even slinking toward the woods to check out the shadowed forms of wraith illusions.
At the next window, a flash of blue light made John flinch. Screw the signal, they were acting now.
" Almost there!" Kace called. They broke into a run, tearing through the halls that were completely empty. One more pass by a massive window revealed four wraith making their unhindered way toward the house.
" I think it would be smart if we stayed away from the windows," John said.
A blast, and shattering glass, echoed sharply toward them, sounding closer than (John hoped) it probably was.
Kace led them through large double doors on the left, into a wide corridor carpeted in blue that muffled their thumping footfalls. They didn't stop until they came to another set of double doors of dark wood. Both Kace and Ronon yanked them open, ushering the rest into a darkened room. The lights of P-90s flashing around the massive room showed them several large padded easy chairs around a fire place, and empty shelves that might have held books or antiques at one time. The dust was thick, rising up in spiraling clouds with each foot touching the floor.
" Over here," Kace said, heading to the left hand corner in a large space between two book cases. Kace crouched and felt around the wooden panels of the wall, knocking on them until one sounded hollow. He dug his fingernails into the panel until it popped and dropped away, revealing a brass colored lever that Kace pulled and released. There was a click, and a square of floor thumped and slid away.
Kace spread his hands out toward it. " And there you go. But only one at the time. The way down's a little narrow."
" Lorne, McAllister, you two first," John said, heading back to the door to peer out. " Then Harl."
Lorne cast the beam of his light into the hole, then clipped his weapon and turned to lower himself into yawning blackness. John remained by the door, looking between his team and the hall that remained empty with blasts and shattering glass still a ways off. Harl was being an ass by taking his sweet time slipping into the hole, even with his hands now free, until Ronon put his foot on the man's shoulder and shoved him in. The man yelped going down, and John couldn't help a grin. The scientists went in next one at a time, though McKay went to join John by the door, LSD in hand. Ronon also came in on the surveillance party, stepping out into the hall.
" McKay, get back to the hole. You're next."
Rodney gave him a heavy lidded look. " Oh don't you even. I go after you go or Carson's jabbing me with every needle in his collection. Besides, what did I tell you while you were puking your guts inside out? No leaving you behind, which includes not allowing you to go down dark, scary holes last."
" He's got a point," Ronon rejoindered.
John couldn't have argued if he wanted to, so instead smiled. " Can't blame a guy for trying."
" We can take care of ourselves," Ronon said, then gestured at John's casted arm. " You need a little help. I think this is what you call a no-brainer."
" Precisely," McKay said keeping his eyes glued to the LSD screen.
After the scientists, the marines went next.
McKay looked up from his screen to the hole and the bodies slipping into it, then at Sheppard and smiled. " You're next."
John shoved his gun into his waist band. " Actually, I stick with you going first. I'll come after, then Ronon can follow. No argument."
McKay held up both hands, already heading over to the hole. " Fine, whatever. I'd just better see your narrow ass coming in after."
When the last marine vanished, McKay turned and carefully crouched to ease himself into the hole. He slid in on his stomach an inch at a time feet first like someone creeping into icy water.
" Today, McKay," John growled. He had to be proud of himself for hiding his urgency to get down that hole and away from this house. He was acutally starting to feel claustrophobic in this place, which McKay would never let him live down if he found out.
" Give me a moment," Rodney mumbled, shoving the LSD into his pocket. He continued to inch, sweat beading on his forehead to slide down his face. He then stilled and brightened. " Oh, there's a ladder."
Rodney looked up, mouth open, ready to speak, when his eyes bulged and his jaw went slack. " What the...? Look out!"
What happened after happened at once and fast. John and Ronon weren't given time to whirl around when an elbow struck Ronon's face, sending him stumbling back, and something cold and sharp flashed striking down at Sheppard's back. Stinging fire ripped through Sheppard's flesh, going deep to the bone and extending from his shoulder blade to the second to the last floating rib. He screamed, arching his back and dropping to his knees. An arm wrapped across his throat and pulled back and up, forcing him onto his feet. And out of the corner of his eye, he saw a secondary flash of light off metal – the glint of a sharp-edged knife.
" Stay back!" The blood-freezing familiarity of the voice had John's heart lurching in his chest. John looked at Rodney, the physicist's face unreadable in the dark but visible thanks to its complete lack of color. Darting his eyes to Ronon, he didn't have to see the runner's face to know that he was seething.
Gorek started moving backward, and Ronon rose, moving with him. Even Rodney climbed back out of the hole.
" I said stay back!"
" We are!" Rodney snapped with both hands raised.
" I think he means quit following him," John gritted out, panting from the pain and the arm trying to cinch around his neck.
" We're not leaving you here," Ronon growled, but had stopped moving when the bloodied knife was pressed against John's neck over the pulse.
" Yeah," Rodney replied. " Irony, bad luck, life, all that crap. Remember? I said we wouldn't leave you behind and, hell, what do you know, we're not."
" Geez, McKay, bad time to have been listening to me. I meant we all get out together, not all end up dead together."
Ronon took a step when Gorek was nearer to the doors. " We're not leaving you here."
" Yes you are!" Gorek barked.
Hot blood was pouring down John's back to his pants, soaking into his clothes, and there was a cold, uncomfortable pressure at his hip...
Duh, gun you moron. John pulled his hand from Gorek's arm, letting it drop then slowly moving it to the gun.
" Actually, knowing them, they'll just keep following us until the wraith suck us dry. So might as well just kill me because none of us are going to survive this..."
" Sheppard!" McKay tried to snarl, but – as always – it came out an octave too close to a whine.
John wrapped his fingers around the weapon and with the same methodical motion slipped it from his pants. He kept it point straight down, moving it back until his hand made contact with Gorek's thigh. He angled the gun back, and finally pulled the trigger.
The gun fired and Gorek screamed, stumbling back, dropping the knife and releasing John. John whirled in time to see Gorek – face caked in blood – recovering enough from the shot in his shin to bellow out and charge John in the madness of one knowing their defeated but refusing to go down until they take someone with them. But he didn't get more than two steps when he jerked to a stop, looking momentarily stunned, until finally crumpling lifeless to the floor.
Stunned himself, John looked to his right to see Ronon standing beside him with his own weapon raised, and apparently not on stun. A hand clapping on John's shoulder made him flinch, jerking him around to look at a white-faced Rodney gradually regaining color.
" See? We're still alive, you're still here... What say we leave now?"
John, unable to speak thanks to a heart beating too fast and making it difficult to breathe, nodded in reply. The three men turned heading to the tunnel. John stumbled, not enough to fall, but enough to get both Ronon and Rodney to grab his arms.
" I'll go first," Rodney said, " to make sure he doesn't drop the rest of the way down. Ronon, you go after Sheppard for the same reason."
Ronon nodded.
Rodney went to his hands and knees and eased himself feet first into the hole. He lowered himself onto his stomach to slide the rest of the way inch by inch until his feet found purchase with the ladder.
John, still panting, shook his head. " Take your sweet time, McKay. I'm sure the wraith are doing the same."
" Shut up."
When McKay's head vanished, Sheppard turned and crouched, going one foot at a time into the hole starting with the top ladder rung and working his way down until his hand could grip the top rung. For him, it was a featful endeavor, stepping down, then jumping his one good hand from one rung to the next, then stepping down again. He could hear both McKay's quick breathing, Ronon's deeper breathing, and his own harsh breathing sounding hollow in the close confines. Glancing down, John caught the narrow beams of light dancing spasmodically along the wider floors and walls.
On reaching the bottom by jumping from the last few rungs, John straightened to find the tunnel a hell of a lot more spacious than the one he and Kace had escaped through at that bakery or whatever it had been. High rock walls, high ceilings, all enough to keep McKay from giving into absolute claustrophobic insanity. Although the dancing lights did betray the physicist's face to be a couple of shades toward white. Breathing went from hollow to echoing sharply, and cool air was absorbed by the heatless but still wet blood on John's back, making him shiver.
" That everyone?" Came Kace's voice.
" Everyone who counts," Ronon replied. John heard a click, then the grate of stone against stone as the trap door slid shut, thunking into place.
" Where does this tunnel go?" Lorne asked.
Kace replied, " All over the place. To the woods, to town, even the chief Commander's. It's the biggest tunnel out of the bunch and even joins up with a few others."
" So which way do we go?" McKay asked next.
" The town," John answered. " It's closer and the jumper would have an easier time finding us if we can't make it back."
So they headed up the tunnel at a fast walk with the only noise their footfalls, breathing, and Harl's occasional whimpers. It was easy enough going with the tunnel perfectly straight until they came to a fork in the road. John could see the light of P-90s flashing off of Kace's head as he swiveled it between the two until settling for the one on the right.
" This way." And they started off again.
John took long strides to keep up, but couldn't get beyond being the last in the throng. Shuddering had become constant shivering, and he let his jaw hang slack in order to suck in enough air. He could feel thin tendrils of blood tickling down his back. The bleeding may have lessened, but it hadn't entirely stopped. His increasingly heavy feet snagged a small crack in the path, and he stumbled, about to go plowing face first into unrelenting ground, when strong fingers wrapped around his arm to steady him.
" Thanks," John gasped.
" We should stop," Ronon growled. " Take care of that injury."
John shook his head, even if the runner couldn't see it in the dark. " No, not yet. Not yet..."
" Sheppard," McKay hissed. " Don't be an idiot..."
" We're on the edge of town," Kace announced.
John grinned. " see?"
" I think Weir's right, Telepathy is contagious," McKay grumbled.
John grinned again, but didn't have the breath to chuckle. They went a ways further until they came to a ladder climbing up into the darkness toward thin lines of light forming a square. In the near silence the rise and fall wail of the alarms could be discerned.
" Huh," Kace said, looking about. " Should be more people here. Probably – hopefully – they're further up the tunnel. But I don't sense anyone..." He turned to Teyla. " Any wraith around?"
Teyla nodded stiffly. " Yes, many, all throughout the town."
" Then where the drall is everyone?" Kace snarled. Then he stiffened. " Oh, there they are. Word to the wise. I suggest you find a way to keep his judgeship's mouth shut or we're in a world of chaos. We've got folks coming in fast."
Harl opened his mouth, whether to protest or cry for help never determined when the marine holding him clocked him over the head with the butt of his 9 mil. Harl crumpled to the floor, and Lorne with another marine dragged him against the wall, propping him up with Lorne pulling a field dressing from his vest and wrapping it around the man's head.
Kace chuckled. " Beautiful. That should do nicely."
The thin lines of light marking the trap door vanished when the door was pulled away to reveal a blinding square of light. Frantic voices, some crying, some arguing, others gibbering, and one cursing, spilled into the tunnel. The light became partially blocked by bodies clamoring down the ladder, a few with lanterns tied to ropes slung over their shoulders. Two men armed with rifles came first, dropping the rest of the way and bringing their weapons around on noticing the Lanteans. They relaxed at seeing only human faces, but there was still tension by the way they gripped their guns until their knuckles were white.
A tall, broad shouldered man looked the Lanteans over until his gaze fell on the unconscious Harl. Paling, the man rushed over to the judge's side and knelt beside him.
" Chief judge!" He looked at the Lantean's accusingly. " What has happened to him?"
" Got hit in the head during escape," Ronon replied. Leave it to the Satedan to tell the truth without giving the whole truth away.
" He'll be all right," Lorne said, and John caught his quiet tone of disgust. " Truthfully, he's lucky that's all he got... the wraith were coming in fast."
" Seen any wraith down here?" The big man asked. Everyone shook their head no.
The second man, shorter, younger, and fidgeting nervously, looked up at the trap door. " All clear!"
Children came down next, ten in all of varying ages, then came the women, two with infants cradled to their chests in cloth wraps, then finally the men and young men. John had lost count, but he guessed the number to be around twenty or so all together. They were out of breath, shivering, and pressing against the walls away from the trap door. A bearded man, second to the last to go down, stalked straight up to a tall, thin haired man, shoving his face into the taller man's personal space and pointing with a rigid, shaking finger at the trap door.
" Blast it all, Syrel, I could have brought them. They were right next door!"
" Keb," Syrel sadly replied, " the wraith are crawling all over the place. You might have gotten in going the back way, but returning with that many people would have given you away and you'd all be dead. Jeth isn't a fool. He'll have gone up into the attic with the rest of the family. If they stay there, don't make any noise, they should be fine."
" But you know the stories about how wraith can pop into a place like spirits. They're right next door, Syrel. A quick run and I'll have 'em in."
" And risk giving us away in the end? Have you lost your senses Keb? You'll get us all killed!"
" I can't leave him, he's my brother!"
McKay leaned in toward John. " Actually, if they keep talking any louder I think we'll be lunch before lunch time," he whispered
As though in agreement, someone hissed out a shush. The argument continued, but in quieter tones, until Keb threw up his hands and turned away, passing his hand over his face, probably to wipe away the moisture shimmering in his eyes before the tears could fall. He turned again, giving John a profile view. The man was rigid, with hands on hips and chin quivering as he fought back the flooding sorrow trying to smother him.
If Keb's kin was still out there, it meant others could be as well. John shot a look of pure hatred to the unconscious Harl, muttering a harsh 'stupid bastard' before turning to face McKay.
" You still got that device I told you to take?"
McKay snorted. " Yes. And thank you so much for the extra weight. Like my pack wasn't uncomfortable enough."
John held out his hand. " Give it to me."
" Why?"
John rolled his eyes. " What are you, my mom? Just humor me."
McKay gave John a suspicious once over, then brought his pack around to dig through it until the round device was produced. He slapped it in John's hand, and John gripped it in both palms until it blinked to life, causing McKay to take an uneasy, involuntary step back.
" Uh, Sheppard? Have we yet to get the little lesson of playing with unknown devices blown or electrocuted into our brain?"
John smiled without taking his eyes from the device. " Actually, this one came with instructions."
McKay, unease lost to be replaced by immediate fascination, stepped forward. " Instructions?"
" Yeah. Well, not the written kind. More like having memorized them and just remembered them, which happens every time I touch the thing. It's like, um... like the Ancient version of a wraith illusion and flash-bang combined. Press this red light, roll this in the opposite direction of where you want to go, and it creates holograms that should have wraith flocking to it like rats to a carcass."
Rodney grimaced. " Oh, lovely."
" Isn't it? It even lets you mentally program your own illusion." John concentrated until he felt the thing vibrate, and the lights began blinking randomly. Grinning with satisfaction, John made his unsteady way toward the front where Keb had took up pacing and glancing at the trap door as though planning to make a run for it.
" Hey," John said. " Uh, Keb right?"
Keb looked at John with unconcealed hostility. " What?"
John held up the device. " Wanna get your brother?"
SGA
A/N: More exciting things to come.
