DISCLAIMER – I do not own Stargate: Atlantis. It is owned by MGM/UA and associated companies. I am writing this story purely for the enjoyment of myself and others. No money is involved in any way.

RATING – The whole story is rated T. In this chapter there is some swearing, so I thought I'd better mention the rating again.

SPOILERS – Again, none that I'm aware of.

A/N – Well, I have no notes for this chapter, really. I'd just like to say a gigantic thank you to everyone who left me comments for Chapter 4. Seems like it was a popular chapter! Anyway, I hope you will like this chapter, too.

You guessed it… still no beta.


The Song Of Silent Rivers

5. Through The Gate

John splashed out of the water and clambered up the riverbank, wondering what the hell he'd been thinking when he'd decided to jump in. He pushed his fingers through his wet hair, frustrated at his own momentary lapse of common sense. He should have known he'd never reach Zelenka that way. The current had very nearly overpowered him, too, and he'd had to swim like hell to reach the shore again. Several metres further downstream, Ronon came ashore and shook the water off himself like a dog. John would have laughed at the Satedan's actions under better circumstances, but he couldn't bring himself to be amused by anything right now. He jogged toward Ronon.

"Refreshing swim," was the Satedan's comment.

"If you say so," John said. As he tried to wring some of the moisture out of his shirt, he scanned the riverbank for any sign of Zelenka. "So, what now?"

Ronon didn't reply right away. John noticed Ronon was looking around, but he wasn't concentrating on the shore. He was peering at the tree line. John couldn't figure out why Ronon might be looking in that direction until the big man raised a hand and pointed. "There," he said.

John let his gaze follow Ronon's pointing finger, and then he spied a patch of blue amid the green foliage. John didn't hesitate. He hurried toward the spot, calling the engineer's name as he went. Ronon was right behind him.

John's heart was racing from the swim downstream and the stress and the huge rush of adrenaline in his system. Running didn't make it any better. He guessed the shock and relief at finding Zelenka not only alive, but also conscious, was what really brought him to his knees on the ground. He noticed vaguely that his hand was trembling when he reached out to touch Zelenka's shoulder.

"Thank God," was the only thing John could manage to say.

John had imagined himself having to tell Elizabeth the engineer had drowned, falling from a bridge into a river, on John's watch. God, that'd be an awful scene, he thought. He felt bad enough now, because he was supposed to have been protecting Zelenka, not letting him get hurt. He couldn't even contemplate how guilty he would feel if Zelenka had perished in the river. Elizabeth would surely never forgive him, and he knew he wouldn't be able to forgive himself. As it was, Elizabeth would be upset. Elizabeth cared about every single person in Atlantis and took it to heart when anything happened to one of them, but John suspected she had a particular soft spot for Radek Zelenka. She'd never admit it – well, she'd never admit it to John, at any rate – but John wasn't as dense as he led everyone to believe, and he noticed little things she said and did in Zelenka's presence. Probably nothing would ever come of it, but John didn't want to be the one responsible for pre-empting anything that might've happened by being a negligent team leader.

"Colonel…?" Zelenka's voice was barely above a whisper, but it managed to cut through John's frantic thoughts.

"Yeah. Yeah, it's me," John said. "You okay, Doc? You had us worried, you know."

"Thought you drowned," Ronon added laconically from where he stood nearby. "Anything broken?"

The engineer peered at John as if he might have been having trouble believing John was really there. It took John a full two seconds to realize Zelenka was probably having trouble seeing clearly without his glasses. Another few seconds passed before John remembered what he needed to do.

"Dr. Zelenka," John said. "Can you move?"

"Y-yes," was the faint reply. Zelenka tried to roll over slowly, but only succeeded in flopping onto his back. He let out a sound that John could only interpret as pain. He coughed spasmodically and finally managed. "Help…sit."

"Sure, if you think that'll help," John said. He lifted Zelenka bodily into a sitting position. "Do you remember what happened? Remember where you are?"

Zelenka shook his head slightly and then closed his eyes. He mumbled something John didn't understand. Probably speaking Czech, John guessed. This wasn't a good sign. Zelenka's inability to remember anything most likely meant he had a concussion, which was never good, especially when it happened an hour's hike from the Stargate on an alien world.

They had to get back to the 'Gate, and the sooner they got there, the better. He doubted Zelenka could make it on foot. John sighed. There was nothing for it. They'd just have to take turns carrying him. John glanced at Ronon

It was uncanny how Ronon seemed to know exactly what John was thinking. The big man strode over to them and crouched beside Zelenka. He said, "Dr. Zelenka, we're going to take you back to the 'Gate. You okay with being carried?"

Zelenka just nodded feebly, as if he didn't care whether he was carried back to the 'Gate or left right where he was. John decided to take the nod as assent. He got to his feet. He watched as Ronon manoeuvred the engineer over his broad shoulder in a credible fireman's lift.

"Okay," John said. "Let's get the hell out of here and go home."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The watcher knew she should leave the strangers alone. Every instinct told her this would be the right thing to do, and most of the time she knew she ought to trust her instincts. Her innate knowledge kept her alive. Still, she reasoned, she was not an animal. She could have her own thoughts and act on them if she wished.

She crouched in the shadow of a tree and studied the two companions of the man whom she'd rescued from the river. The biggest stranger moved like a forest cat, all smooth muscles and breeze-light feet. His eyes reminded her of the forest cats' eyes, too. The big man seemed feral, and she imagined she saw death to his enemies written in his entire demeanour. The other man had black hair. Slick and glistening with river water, it reminded the watcher of the wings of carrion birds. His face was lean and angular like a hawk's face. The watcher would have been afraid of him if she hadn't seen his eyes. The black-haired stranger's eyes were the colour of the soft moss that grew on the shady side of the trees. Her father's eyes had been like that. Sometimes she could not recall her father's face, but she always remembered his eyes.

Neither of the two bigger men held the watcher's interest as much as the one she had pulled from the water. He was different than his companions, smaller and seemingly frail. The two bigger ones were warriors, the watcher decided, but the man with the honey-coloured hair and unusual blue-green eyes was not. Perhaps he was a poet. A long time ago she had seen other poets, watched them caress the strings of their instruments and shape the words of their stories by the coppery glow of a fading fire. She tried to imagine this strange poet on his homeworld. The people of his village would be grateful he had not been taken away by the river. Perhaps he would make a story about what had happened here, and all of his village would know the watcher had saved him.

The watcher felt an odd hollowness in her chest at the thought of the strange poet's return to his own village. She was happy that she'd been able to help him, but part of her did not want him to go away. She had been alone for many seasons. She wanted to be near the strange poet, even if it was just for a little while.

The biggest man lifted the strange poet in an odd fashion, so that the upper part of the smaller man's body hung upside-down over the larger man's shoulder. The watcher thought the two warriors ought to be gentler with the small man, but perhaps things were done differently on their world than the way things had always been done on this one. The black-haired man led the way and the three strangers headed in the direction of the bridge.

Ignoring the warnings of her subconscious, the watcher made up her mind. She would follow the three strangers again and see where they went.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"It's harassment! Psychological abuse, that's what it is! I'd even go so far as to say it's malpractice, if you can even classify what that voodoo witchdoctor does as a legitimate scientific practice. I'm telling you, Elizabeth, something has to be done, and I want—"

Just at the moment, Elizabeth Weir didn't care what Rodney McKay wanted. He'd been trailing her all over Atlantis, ever since he'd left the Infirmary, and he had done nothing but complain the entire time. Elizabeth was tempted to tell the man to shut up. She refrained from giving in to that particular temptation, opting instead for the more diplomatic,

She said, "You know, Rodney, you bring a lot of trouble on yourself."

"What! I do not!" the Canadian bleated. "That charlatan told me I had a virus."

"And so you do."

"Yes, but it's not deadly. He made me think it was deadly."

If you keep bothering me, the end result might be deadly, Elizabeth wanted to say. She could feel a tension headache coming on. "Rodney, aren't you supposed to be resting in your quarters?"

"He made me think I was about to die a slow, painful death from some highly contagious virus, and it turns out I've just got a chest cold. A chest cold! If we were back on Earth, I'd so be talking to a lawyer right now."

"But we're not on Earth, are we?"

"But if we were—"

"Rodney—"

"Don't you think it's irresponsible of Carson to just—"

"Rodney!"

"What?" Rodney said.

"I remember reading somewhere that a chest cold can develop into pneumonia if it isn't properly treated," Elizabeth said. She felt a hand-in-the-cookie-jar kind of guilty pleasure when she told him this. She knew it was bad, but she also knew she'd get away with it. Besides which, the result was bound to be interesting.

Rodney's face blanched. He said worriedly, "Really?"

"Really, but you can ask Carson about it, if you don't believe me."

"People die from pneumonia."

"Yes, I think they do, sometimes."

"What should I do?"

"Why don't you try going back to your quarters and getting some rest?" Elizabeth suggested. "That is what Carson told you to do, isn't it?"

"Um...yes, but—"

"Rodney, go. I promise, if anyone needs you, we'll let you know."

"You'll need me," Rodney predicted. "You think you don't, but you always do."

"I don't need you at the moment, so you can feel free to go, please…"

Rodney didn't say anything in response to that. He just made and inarticulate growl followed by a cough, and turned away. For a few seconds, Elizabeth stood and watched him trudge down the corridor. Satisfied that he might actually be going to his quarters this time, Elizabeth started toward her office. She hadn't gone three steps when she heard the the last thing in two galaxies that she wanted to hear.

"Unscheduled offworld activation!"

In no time, Rodney was at Elizabeth's side once again, and the two of them were running to the control room. The Canadian technician, Sergeant Campbell, looked up when Rodney and Elizabeth entered the control centre of Atlantis. The familiar blue ripples of the Stargate's event horizon glowed behind the force field.

"Dr Weir, I'm receiving an IDC," Sergeant Campbell said. 'It's Teyla."

"Deactivate the shield," Elizabeth said.

The shield disappeared at a keyed-in command from Campbell. A moment later there was the sound of radio static and then a voice. "Come in, Atlantis. This is Teyla."

"Teyla, this is Dr. Weir," Elizabeth answered the disembodied voice of the Athosian woman. "We hear you. What's going on? We didn't expect to hear from you so soon."

"Dr. Weir, there has been…an accident," Teyla said. Her voice was solemn. "Colonel Sheppard sent me back to the Stargate to make contact with you."

Elizabeth felt her breath catch. "What kind of accident?" she said. She tried and failed to keep the anxiety out of her voice. "Teyla, what happened?"

She listened quietly while Teyla explained everything that had taken place on M4x-382. Elizabeth's mind painted gruesome worst-case scenarios in front of her mind's eye. She didn't want to think about what might be lurking in the forests of that planet, and she especially didn't want to consider the possibility that one of her people may have drowned. She felt like crying when she imagined Radek in the water, and prayed to the gods of two galaxies that John would bring him back safe and sound. She wanted them all back safely.

Teyla finished her narrative with, "Colonel Sheppard told me to wait. He said they would not be too far behind me. We will all return to Atlantis as soon as they arrive here."

"Yes," Elizabeth said. It took all the self-control she had to prevent her voice from shaking. "I'll see all four of you, very soon."

Elizabeth felt someone touch her arm. She glanced sideways and saw that the hand on her forearm belonged to Rodney. The reassuring smile he offered her was unconvincing, but even so, she appreciated the gesture and the sentiment. There's a fine example of irony, she thought. Not ten minutes ago, she had been trying to get rid of Rodney for a while. Now, she was infinitely thankful he was beside her.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The hike back to the 'Gate felt like the longest hour of John Sheppard's entire life. John hadn't wanted to waste any time, but at Ronon's suggestion they'd returned to the bridge for their boots and weapons and John's backpack. In the end, John saw the logic in the Satedan's suggestion. It wouldn't do them any good if they went' traipsing back to the 'Gate in bare feet and managed to step on a poisionous thorn or a venomous insect on the way. At some point during their trek, Zelenka stopped responding to the occasional questions John kept asking him. Maybe it was better for the engineer to be unconscious for a while, John thought. The poor guy might not mind the awkwardness of being carried if he wasn't aware Ronon and John were taking turns carrying him.

When they finally reached the Stargate, John felt like cheering, and he probably would have if he'd had enough breath. John lowered the unconscious engineer to the ground as Teyla sprinted toward them.

"John, Ronon, are you well?" Teyla asked.

"Yeah, we're good," John said.

"And Dr. Zelenka?"

"Not so good, but once we get him home, Carson will know what to do."

"Then we must get him home immediately," Teyla said.

"I couldn't agree more," John said. "Dial Atlantis, and we're outta here."

Teyla nodded and ran to dial the 'Gate.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The watcher had never seen the Gate of the Ancestors open before. She stared, captivated, as the portal came to life. It looked like water rippling on the surface of a pond, only this pond was suspended sideways. The watcher wanted to touch it. She wanted to follow the three strange men and the strange woman through the 'Gate and discover where it led. She remembered a story about the City of the Ancestors being on the other side of the 'Gate, and she wondered if the tale was true.

The woman with the bronze-coloured skin stepped into the upright pool and disappeared. The man who walked like a forest cat was next, and he vanished as well. The black-haired man lifted the small light-haired one. The watcher knew they would step through the 'Gate and disappear, too.

Without even stopping to consider what might happen, the watcher dashed from her hiding place as fast as her feet would carry her. She ran straight toward the Gate of the Ancestors and plunged through the substance that looked like water just a breath and a heartbeat behind the last two strangers.

TBC

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A/N #2 – I have puppy pictures! And now I know which one of the pups is my little Grace. Woohoo!