John swung the pickaxe and winced as the head dug into the ore seam, jarring his shoulders in the process. He stepped back, coughing as rock tumbled down the wall and landed at his feet in a plume of dust. At the same time, Ronon swung his axe at the wall, and more of the dark rock landed on the small pile between them. John leant against the rough wall and tried to catch his breath while Graime and another of the prisoners scooped up the rock and dumped it into the full rail cart.
The red-haired woman stepped forward, grasped the rough wooden handle of the cart, and pushed it out of the cavern with a grunt.
"We have a few minutes," John said. He coughed again and bent forward with his elbows on his knees as he rubbed the back of his head.
He'd had the low-grade headache for hours. The question was, was it caused by the lack of air in the cavern, his own aches and exhaustion, or was something from the link?
He had only seen McKay once in the hours they'd been working in the mine. Just bad luck? he wondered. Or by design? He glanced at the tunnel entrance and tried to take a few deeper breaths but only ended up coughing again.
"You okay?" Ronon asked as John dropped his hand and straightened up.
John nodded and leant his back against the wall. "What about you?" he asked when he noticed Ronon rubbing the palms of his hands.
"A few of the blisters broke. Getting harder to breathe."
"Yeah, I noticed that," John replied and tried to ignore the tightness in his chest.
Ronon glanced at the mouth of the tunnel. "The guards don't seem to realise Teyla got away," he said in a low whisper.
"Let's hope she gets back here with Lorne and a team of Marines before they do," John replied and picked up the pickaxe when he heard another cart rattling down the tunnel. "Otherwise, something tells me things will not go well for us," he admitted softly.
The rattling came closed, and Ronon frowned as he glanced up the tunnel. "Something's wrong. The cart is moving too fast."
"Maybe someone with news about your rescue mission?" Graime asked with a hopeful expression.
John glanced at Ronon, who shook his head and picked up his pickaxe.
"Something tells me it won't be good news," John said to Graime as he hefted the other pickaxe.
Graime grimaced and gripped his shovel in both hands.
Alman entered the cavern a few seconds later, staring wide-eyed around the cavern as he pushed an empty rail cart in front of him.
"Bad feeling confirmed," John muttered under his breath when he saw the expression on Alman's face.
"Alman?" Graime asked. He dropped the shovel in his hands and hurried over to his brother. "What's wrong?"
Alman gasped for a few moments, and Graime wrapped an arm around Alman's shoulders when he staggered. He took a few more breaths, nodded to Graime, and turned to John. "Your friend," he said. "He's gone."
John glanced at Ronon. "What do you mean, he's gone?"
"A man wearing a fancy uniform came to the camp. Your friend tried to stand up to him …" Alman paused as he gasped for air.
There was no reaction from the link, John reminded himself even as he rubbed the back of his head again. Whatever happened, he wasn't injured, at least.
"What happened?" Ronon demanded.
Alman shook his head. "Two men seized him by the arms and tied his hands." He glanced at Graime. "There was nothing I could do to stop them."
"Damn it," John muttered. "They could be halfway back to the 'gate by now."
"There's nothing you could have - Hey!" Graime exclaimed as Ronon tried to push past him.
"Ronon," John ordered in a low hiss as he stepped in front of Dex. The last thing they needed was to alert one of the guards to what was going on.
"What?" Ronon asked and scowled at John.
"We need a plan," John said. "We won't do Rodney any good if the guards pin us down in here." He waited until Ronon took a step back from the tunnel entrance, then focused on Alman. "What happened next?"
"The uniformed man -"
John held up a hand. "This man, was he about my height? Craggy face?"
Alman nodded.
John paced from the tunnel entrance to the wall, devising and tossing plans on how to get out of the mine and find McKay before Kolya left the planet.
"Who is this man?" Graime asked as John paced.
"He's a renegade Genii commander named Kolya," John replied. "He's had a bit of a grudge against Rodney and me ever since we foiled a couple of his plans for galaxy-wide domination last year."
"Well, your friend kept telling this Kolya he wouldn't go with him, but Kolya didn't care. He ordered his men to bring your friend, and then they left the camp," Alman hesitated and glanced from John to Ronon. "Your friend was not cooperative -"
Ronon snorted.
Alman glanced at Dex. "And Kolya hit him."
John's eyes narrowed, and his expression went flat.
"Time we dealt with him once and for all," Ronon growled in John's ear.
John nodded and clenched his hands behind his back.
"After that, your friend didn't put up much of a fight. They dragged him out of the camp, and I came to find you," Alman finished.
John forced down the anger churning in his stomach and focused on what they needed to do next. "We don't have much time. If Kolya came for McKay now, he's ready to leave this planet." He glanced at Ronon. "It was no coincidence he waited until we were working in the mine." John paused as a new thought occurred to him. "I wouldn't put it past him to have bribed the guard who gave Rodney the cart duty in the first place."
Ronon nodded. "Got McKay out in the open. Easier to grab."
John scrubbed a hand over his face and caught the accusatory look Graime gave him from the corner of his eye.
He probably thinks I'm going to leave McKay to his fate, John thought. He pushed the thought aside. He didn't have time to worry about what Graime or any of the other prisoners thought about him. Kolya had McKay. He had to get back to the 'gate before Kolya left the planet.
"All right," John said and glanced at the tunnel. "I know Kolya has been staying in that mansion at the end of the valley -"
"There's a mansion?" Graime asked.
John glanced at him and nodded. "Owned by the same person who runs this mine. She's been supplying uranium," he pointed at the seam of ore, "to the Genii. She's also been giving Kolya a portion of the refined ore on the side."
John glanced down the tunnel as ideas raced through his mind. "If we're lucky, Kolya went back there first to get the uranium. We might be able to catch him there before they leave for the 'gate. The problem is the house is surrounded by water, and the bridge is narrow."
"Pinch point," Ronon said.
"Yeah," John agreed. "We'll need to subdue the guards here at the mine first to keep them from coming after us. Quietly," he added with a glance at Dex. "Kolya probably has at least a few men with him. The longer we can keep them in the dark, the better."
"How many men?" Graime asked.
"At the house? Probably not more than a personal guard. But that doesn't mean there aren't more either waiting in the woods or in the village."
Graime nodded and flexed his hands.
"How many guards are out there?" Ronon asked Alman as he stepped toward the tunnel.
"Not more than twenty," Alman replied. "There were three in the main cavern just now. The rest are stationed outside to make sure none of the prisoners with the carts tries to run."
Ronon nodded. "Any in the tunnels?"
"I only saw the usual man patrolling back and forth," Alman replied.
Ronon glanced at John, who nodded. "Quietly," John hissed as Ronon ducked into the tunnel.
A few seconds later, John heard a brief scrabbling noise in the tunnel and then Ronon was back, dragging the unconscious guard into the cavern.
"Rest of the tunnel is clear," Ronon reported as he dropped the guard against the far wall of the cavern.
The other prisoners stared from Ronon to the guard, and John hoped none of them would raise the alarm. A young girl with long, red hair plaited down her back stood near the front of the group. She stared at John for a moment, then turned and whispered something to the people standing behind her.
John pursed his lips, debating whether or not he should say something to reassure the men and woman.
"Sheppard?" Ronon said and pointed down the tunnel.
"Yeah, I know," John replied and walked over to the girl. "We're trying to help," he said with a smile. "If this works, we'll be able to send all of you home. But for that to happen, you have to trust me for just a little while and stay quiet while we deal with the guards outside."
A few of the men glanced at Graime, who shrugged and stared up the tunnel leading out of the cave. The girl looked at the men and women, turned to John, and nodded.
John nodded back and turned to Graime. "Stay here," he said with a glance at the huddled group behind him. John waited for Graime to nod, then jerked his chin at Ronon. "Let's go," he said and led the way into the tunnel.
He wasn't more than five or ten yards down the tunnel when he heard the rattle of cart wheels on the track ahead of him. John held up a closed fist and pushed Ronon against the tunnel wall as the cart came into view.
The red-haired woman stopped short when she saw them. Her eyes narrowed, and John grimaced when he realised it was the same woman who had been so curious about their conversation while planning how Teyla would escape.
Would she raise the alarm? he wondered as the woman studied them. He felt Ronon shift next to him and knew Dex was thinking the same thing. John put a hand on Ronon's chest and gave a minute shake of his head as Ronon shifted again.
The woman eyed them a moment longer, then stepped out of the way.
John waited until she stood on the other side of the cart, then motioned to Ronon and inched around the woman. He nodded to the woman, who bobbed her head in acknowledgement then continued down the tunnel with the cart.
"That woman is smarter than she lets on," Ronon murmured with a glance behind them. "She could still alert the guards."
"Doesn't matter," John replied. "We're still leaving."
They were near the main cavern a few minutes later when Ronon grabbed his arm.
"Someone's coming up behind us," Ronon said in a whisper. "Knew we should have dealt with the woman when we had the chance."
John grimaced. He had hoped the woman would understand he was trying to help the prisoners as much as his team and ignore them, but apparently, that wasn't the case, he realised.
He heard the sound of several people coming toward them and frowned. "What the -?" he started to ask when he saw Graime and Alman in the dim light coming toward them. What was more, he wasn't alone. The rest of the prisoners, including the red-haired woman from the tunnel, stood behind Graime, holding shovels and pickaxes in their hands.
"I thought I told you to wait," John hissed as he walked back to Graime. "What do you think you're doing?"
"Coming with you." Graime paused, gave John another penetrating stare, then relaxed and added, "Colonel."
John stood in stunned silence for a moment. "You're sure you want to do that?" He was asking Graime, but he glanced at the men and women standing behind him as well. "This is probably going to get rough."
The red-haired woman stepped up beside Graime. "For too long we have sat idle, my sisters and I. Graime says you have a plan for defeating the guards and freeing all of these people." She raised her chin and met John's gaze. "Is that true?"
"That's the plan," John replied.
"Then we will follow you."
John studied the woman for a moment longer, then held out his hand. "John Sheppard."
"Septimia Augusta," she replied and grasped John's outstretched arm just below the elbow. "Well met, John Sheppard," she said and let go of his arm.
"There are five guards in the main cavern," Ronon said with a glance at Alman. "Not three."
John turned and glanced at the mouth of the tunnel. "You're sure?"
Ronon grunted. "Checked the perimeter while you were talking. One man standing near the mouth of this tunnel. Another one guarding the other shaft. And a third standing at the exit to the mine."
"What about the two extras?" John asked.
"Setting up the same table arrangement for serving food as the last time. Must be getting close to dawn."
"We're out of time," John said with a glance at Graime and Septimia. "We need to have control of the mine before the shift changes. The last thing we need is more guards to deal with or civilians who could get caught in the crossfire." He waited for the others to nod, then turned to Ronon. "You take the one near the mine exit. Graime, the one standing watch for the other mineshaft."
Graime nodded and flexed his hands.
"We will deal with the two near the tables," Septimia said.
"We?" John asked.
"My daughter, Cassia," Septimia said and clasped the shoulder of the girl standing next to her.
Now that John saw them together, it was easy to see the relationship. Cassia had the same red hair and bearing as her mother. She was also fifteen or sixteen years old at most, John realised with a frown. The last thing he planned to do was put a child at risk. He started to say something, but Septimia spoke over him.
"Do not let her youth fool you, John Sheppard," Septimia said. "Cassia is an adept fighter and has been by my side through more than one campaign. We will handle the two guards."
John hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "I'll take the guard at the mouth of this tunnel. Remember, this needs to be quick and quiet. There's probably a guard down the other tunnel somewhere, not to mention the ones outside. We do not want a fight inside the mine."
Graime and Septimia nodded.
"The rest of you fall back to the cavern entrance," John ordered the men and women standing behind Graime. "You'll know if something goes wrong, and we need backup."
"Come, come," Alman said and shooed the rest of the prisoners back down the tunnel. "We will wait until the coast is clear," he said to John.
John crept over to the mouth of the tunnel and peered out into the main cavern. He checked the five men were still where Ronon had said they were and took a deep breath.
Now or never, John thought to himself.
He glanced back at Ronon, Graime, and Septimia and held up his hand, silently counting down from three with his fingers. He made sure they were ready, dropped the last finger, and charged the man near the mine entrance as Ronon and the others raced to the remaining guards.
John jumped his target from behind, wrapping one arm around the guard's neck and squeezing. The guard tried to fight back by elbowing John in the gut. When that didn't work, he tried to pry John's arm away from his neck, but it was too late. A few moments later, the guard sagged in John's hold, and John let him go, dropping him against the cavern wall.
He looked up and watched as Septimia and Cassia dealt with the two guards by the far wall of the cavern with a series of rapid punches to the men's heads and torsos. They then finished off the men with a kick to the head.
Septimia checked both of the downed men and turned to John with a nod.
John nodded back and looked for the other two guards. He was a little surprised when he noticed the guard near the mine entrance lying in a pool of blood and watched as Ronon wiped the blade of a knife on the dead guard's shirt and stood.
Graime walked over to him, also holding a thin-bladed knife. John glanced at the other tunnel and frowned when he saw two bodies near the entrance to the other mine shaft.
"The guard patrolling the tunnel thought he'd surprise me," Graime said with a dismissive glance behind him. He turned back to Ronon and nodded at the knife in Ronon's hand. "Hair?"
"Boot heel," Ronon replied, folding the knife closed. "You?"
"Belt," Graime replied and slipped the thin blade back into the folded edge of his leather belt.
"You had that this whole time?" John asked, pointing to the knife in Ronon's hand. "I thought the guards took all of your knives."
"So did they," Ronon replied with a shrug.
John gaped at Ronon a moment longer, then shook his head, grateful the first part of his plan had worked.
"Cassia, go find the rest of the cohort," Septimia ordered and jerked her chin toward the other tunnel. "Bring them to me."
"As you command," Cassia replied. She crossed her right fist over her heart.
She disappeared down the passage and returned a few minutes later with another group of prisoners behind her, including Sera and Brandt. Five other women, all dressed in the same loose tunic and leggings as Septimia and Cassia, broke away from the rest of the prisoners and formed a line behind Septimia and her daughter.
"My battle cohort, John Sheppard," Septimia said, and John heard the pride in her voice. "We are at your command." She crossed her right fist over her heart, and the rest of the women followed suit.
"Sheppard," Brandt said as he looked around at the bodies lying in the cavern. "Your plan worked?"
"So far," John replied. "Now we just have to deal with the guards outside -" He stopped and stared at the exit tunnel when he heard the faint sound of shouting coming from the tunnel leading out of the mine.
"What the hell?" John started to ask just before he heard the distinct sound of gunfire.
"Brandt, get everyone back down the other shaft. You'll find Alman waiting with the rest of the prisoners in the cavern. Stay there until we know the coast is clear."
Brandt nodded and, with Sera's help, herded the frightened men and women down the tunnel.
"Lorne?" Ronon asked with a glance at John.
"Or Kolya has staged another coup," John replied, his expression grim. "He didn't sound too happy with Randorian during their meeting." He shook his head. "Whoever it is, our element of surprise is pretty much shot to hell."
~*~*~*~ SGA ~*~*~*~
Rodney dug in his heels as the guards dragged him away from the mine. If Kolya succeeded in taking him back through the 'gate, Rodney knew that while John wouldn't stop looking for him, the odds of Sheppard ever finding him were basically zero. His feet scrabbled on the dirt, and one of the guards grunted as Rodney fought the hold on his arms.
The blow came so fast, Rodney never saw it coming. One moment Kolya was a few paces in front of him, the next, Rodney was on the ground, spitting blood from a split lip as his jaw throbbed.
"I'm losing my patience, Doctor McKay," Kolya growled as he bent over Rodney. "Unless you want your left arm to match the right, I suggest you start walking."
Even as the Genii soldiers hauled him back to his feet, Rodney met Kolya's glare with one of his own.
"Move," Kolya ordered. He nodded to the guards, who tightened their hold on Rodney's arms and pulled him along as Kolya led the way out of the camp.
Rodney glanced back at the mine and saw Alman watching as the Genii dragged him out of the camp. After a moment, Alman turned and hurried back into the mine with his cart.
At least John will know what happened, Rodney thought as the soldiers dragged him out of the camp.
It was still dark, though a lightening of the sky near the horizon told Rodney it would be morning soon. Once they left the mining camp, the only light was from a lantern one of Kolya's men carried. As a result, Rodney stumbled more than once on the uneven ground. Each time he nearly fell, one of his guards jerked him upright again, straining his already aching shoulders.
The mine was out of sight somewhere behind them when they rounded a bend in the river, and Rodney saw a large house sitting on a slight rise surrounded by water. They crossed a wooden bridge, and Rodney heard the river gurgling below as the soldiers tugged him toward the door of the house. Kolya didn't bother to knock. He merely opened the door and strolled inside as if he owned the place.
His guard detail pushed Rodney into the house, and he stopped short, stunned by the opulence laid out in front of him. Either selling uranium to the Genii was even more profitable than he imagined, or this Randorian had more than one customer, Rodney thought to himself. He was still considering the ramifications of more than one civilisation in the Pegasus galaxy using uranium when a tall man peeked out of a door down the left-hand hallway and hurried forward with a frown.
"Sir, the Mistress -"
"Tell your 'Mistress' I want to speak to her," Kolya ordered.
"But, sir -"
Kolya turned on the man. "Now."
The man swallowed and nodded. "As you say, sir."
"That's better," Kolya said to the man. He waited until the man disappeared up the staircase, then turned down the right-hand hallway.
"In here," Kolya said, opening a door at the end of the hall.
The soldiers pushed Rodney into a small room with a plain desk and chair against the far wall. Ledgers lined a shelf behind the desk, and a small window in the wall to the right of the desk allowed the first glimmers of dawn to light the room.
"Leave us," Kolya said to the soldiers. "Tell the men to do a perimeter check and to stand ready. Once I have the rest of the supplies, we'll depart for the portal."
"Yes, sir," one of the men said as they both clicked their heels and left the room.
Rodney tried to ease the ache in his shoulders as he backed toward the desk. Please let there be something to cut the ropes, he pleaded to the universe. He glanced at the clean surface of the desk and tried to hide his disappointment as well as his growing fear as he turned back to Kolya standing near the door, fingering the knife at his belt.
"You stood up to him, and you escaped the machine," Ronon said as he pointed to the knife on Rodney's work table. "That is to remind you he doesn't hold the power anymore. You do."
Rodney stopped staring at the knife and scowled at Kolya instead. "So what's this supposed offer I can't refuse?" Rodney asked and tried not to think about Kolya as Marlon Brando. He swallowed and hid a wince of pain as he pulled his shoulders back and stood up straight. "I go with you, or you kill me?"
Kolya smiled. "We both know that's not what I need to do to motivate you, Doctor."
Rodney raised an eyebrow and said nothing. "Oh? Not dying sounds like motivation to me."
Kolya shook his head. "No, you talk like a coward, but you revealed yourself in Atlantis. During our little conversation …" He glanced down at Rodney's arm.
Rodney took an involuntary step back at the reminder of everything that had happened during Kolya's attempted coup. "You surprised me, Doctor. You lasted much longer than I expected. I considered the idea that your bravery was a fluke, but then on Dagan, you sacrificed yourself for the safety of Sheppard again. You willingly offered to come with me to find the Daganian treasure as long as I let Sheppard and the others go."
Kolya stopped pacing and turned to Rodney. "You may pretend to care about only yourself, Doctor McKay, but now I know the way to motivate you is to threaten your friends."
Rodney tried not to react, but Kolya only smiled. "My offer is this, you come with me, and I let Sheppard and the others live. Or, if you choose to defy me, I'll have your entire team killed in front of you and still take you with me when we leave this planet."
Rodney felt the blood drain from his face as he backed into the desk behind him.
"You see, Doctor," Kolya said. He crossed the room and stood in front of Rodney. "I know exactly how to make you do what I want." Kolya walked back to the door and paused. "The choice is yours, Doctor McKay, but I think we both know what you will choose to do."
Rodney waited until Kolya left the room, pulling the door closed as he walked out, then he sagged against the desk.
"That rescue can come any time now," Rodney muttered at the ceiling.
He knew Kolya wasn't offering him much of a choice. They both knew he would choose to go with the Genii. If for no other reason, it meant Sheppard would still be alive, and he could hold onto the hope that John would eventually find him.
How long would he be Kolya's prisoner? he wondered.
It had taken months for Sheppard to find Ford, and that was only because Ford had wanted to be found. Would Kolya let him go once he finished the nuclear weapon? Rodney glanced at the closed door and shook his head.
"You know he's going to kill you as soon as you're no longer useful," Rodney muttered. "So find another solution," he ordered himself.
He walked over to the window near the desk and guesstimated the size of the opening as he peered out at the early morning sunlight dancing on the waterfall in the distance. After a moment, he turned away from the window, shaking his head. "Too small. Which leaves the door."
Rodney walked back to the desk, wondering if he could sneak out of the house while Kolya was distracted with his uranium deal when he heard voices coming from outside the room.
"What is it, Kolya?" a female voice asked. "I am not accustomed to someone summoning me like a servant within my own house, and certainly not at this early hour."
Rodney glanced up at the door and noticed Kolya hadn't closed it completely. He crept over to the door and, after a few awkward attempts trying to open the door with his bound hands, he managed to push the door open a few more centimeters with his foot.
The door across the hall was open as well, and Rodney saw a tall woman wearing some sort of long robe, standing in silhouette with her arms crossed over her chest and a look of scorn on her face.
Rodney pushed the door open a little more and watched as Kolya walked around the woman.
"Do you have the rest of the mineral I require?" Kolya asked with a scowl.
The woman sighed. "Yes, as I told you last night, it will be ready this morning."
"In that case, I'll go give Doctor McKay the good news that we will be leaving soon. See to the transport of the mineral to the portal."
Rodney saw the woman clench her hands as she glared at Kolya's back. "And what about Sheppard? If he is half the man you've said he is, it won't be long before he tries to disrupt my operation here."
"Simple." Kolya turned to her and smiled. "Once we're gone … kill him."