Chapter 33: Escape

Ronon had had a chance to look at the newest hostages as the man in charge had taken his time to decide which ones to take for the work party. He was pretty sure that he recognised some of them but he wanted to be sure as it was not people he had had direct contact with. He had a lot to think about as if these people were here there could be some positive implications for them.

He had been confused when he had seen Sheppard in a new cell but was pleased to see that he looked much stronger than he had since they had left Atlantis. They were led back to the hanger full of jumpers; they were loaded onto the jumpers but didn't immediately leave.

Dave fidgeted nervously beside him and he turned to look at him. If anything Dave looked almost as tired as John, the past couple of weeks had seen the man spending little time sleeping and a large amount of energy worrying. "Relax Dave, you know the drill here."

Dave nodded and Ronon saw a miniscule relaxation of David's muscles. Dave's clothes were dirty from several trips down to planets, they had done their best to keep themselves and their clothes clean but there was only so much you could do with a sink. Ronon imagined that he didn't look any better and cursed for the thousandth time that he wasn't in his normal clothes. The white shirt he had wasn't made for a huge amount of free movement and the trousers that Mitchell called jeans were incredibly restrictive, Ronon couldn't understand why anyone would wear them for any length of time.

Shortly after they were loaded onto the transport they took off and headed for their destination. Ronon studied the two new captives that had been put onto the same transport jumper as them. He got the distinct impression that he had seen them before he just couldn't place them but their clothes and mannerisms were distinctly familiar.

The jumper set down and they started down the ramp onto their next work detail. Ronon paused as he emerged from the jumper onto the ramp, looking around. Remembering where he was and that his captors were still watching them he carefully walked down the ramp trying to give the impression that the brightness outside the ship was what had caused him to pause.

As they had on the first occasion Ronon and David had been brought to a planet the guards gathered everyone together to lay out the fact that the planet was unpopulated and should they run then they would be left to fend for themselves. Ronon was interested in the fact that they had elected to do this on the planet rather than on the ship as before. He decided there wasn't much to read into it but thought that they could potentially be getting slightly sloppy and that could work to their benefit in the future.

As the talk was given Ronon discreetly studied the planet they now found themselves on, he had a good look at the vegetation and the position of the sun and noted the two extra moons that he could see in the sky as well as the sound of the animals he could hear. The speech finished and the regulars began to move into the forest.

Their normal companion moved over to them as did one of the men from the SGC that Ronon recognised as a private who had done a rotation through Atlantis the year before. Ronon indicated the group of six new people who stood looking around themselves unsure of what to do; "I want to have a word with them so let's go and show them what we are supposed to do."

Their small group moved over to the others and then led them into the forest away from the guards. When Ronon had deemed that they had moved far enough away that they wouldn't be seen or overheard he turned to face the new group "What planet are you from?"

One of the men looked at his companions before answering "We are from Belkan, it is a trading community near our stargate. We were taken from there two days ago."

Ronon nodded, they had confirmed his suspicions and in doing so they had also helped him to confirm his suspicions about the planet they were now on. Turning so that he was addressing the entire group he said; "I know where we are and contrary to what our captors' claim, if we move quickly we can make the local gate by sundown."

Hope bloomed across the faces of several of the members of the group but others did not look as happy. It was Dave that voiced what the others were probably thinking "What about John and the others, we can't just leave them."

A couple of the others nodded probably thinking of their own loved ones. Ronon sighed in frustration, they were losing valuable time. "those of you that have loved ones on board and want to stay that's your choice but I'm sorry Dave you are coming with me, Sheppard would never forgive me if I let you go back and something happened to you. Besides, the best thing we can do for them is to get to the gate; from there we can get back to our base. Once our people know what's going on they will be able to mount a rescue."

Dave looked crestfallen and Ronon could tell that some of the others were having internal arguments with themselves. Their long time collection companion looked like all his wishes had come true at once; Ronon knew there was no doubt what he had decided to do. While he let the others think through what they were going to do he turned to the Private from the SGC "Its Jameson right?"

The man nodded "That's right sir." Ronon though about correcting the man on the use of sir but decided it wasn't worth the time at this point. "I need you to go back to the ship and see if you can get word to Colonel Mitchell and General O'Neil about what we are doing, try to let as many people as possible from the SGC know to be ready for when we come but be discreet don't tip off our captors. With the numbers we've seen on board the element of surprise is going to be crucial to our success."

"Of course sir, I'll do what I can."

"Ok go and start collecting food; you need to look like nothing has changed." Looking back at the rest of the group Ronon said "We need to go now; those of you who are staying go with Jameson to collect food. The rest of you come with me."

Making sure Dave was right behind him he set off heading towards the mountain range he could see in the distance. From the corner of his eye he saw four people head over to Jameson and knew that his group now comprised five people including himself. He set a fast but manageable pace, aware that at least one member of the group had suffered long-term starvation and little opportunity, beyond collection of food, to keep in shape. He looked at the two members of their group that were from the newest batch of captives. "You will be able to go straight home when we reach the gate. Our people will return the rest of your people as soon as they can."

The two nodded, they were keeping a close eye on the forest around them and Ronon knew that the people from this galaxy were always on watch for the wraith, especially when they were travelling in an area they didn't know.

"What about me?" their collection companion, Jaume, asked.

"Given how far we have travelled in the past few weeks I think it might be more difficult to get you home, come with us and we will do what we can to get you home." Ronon told him.

Jaume just nodded.

They kept up a steady pace for the rest of the day stopping only a couple of times to rest, get a drink of water from a stream and eat some nuts that Ronon was sure were safe. As the sun was just starting to touch the horizon they reached the clearing that had the gate in it. Just as Ronon was about to step out into the clearing he heard the gate power up and move to engage the first chevron. Knowing that there was no way he would be able to get across the clearing and dial out before the wormhole engaged he pushed his group a few meters away from the edge of the clearing.

Knowing the locals would know what to do he addressed his other two charges; "Do exactly what I say, get down and stay down unless I say otherwise." Glancing back over his shoulder he saw the third chevron engage "Do not make a sound regardless of what you see, do you understand?"

They both nodded dropping to the ground as they did. Ronon could tell that they were scared but didn't have time to explain what was going on. Making sure they were all out of sight he then concealed himself just as the gate engaged. He thought he might have heard Dave gasp quietly as the wormhole engaged but he wasn't sure.

As he watched three wraith stepped out of the gate. Happy that no ships had come through and that the collecting teams would be safe given their distance from the gate Ronon suppressed the urge to take on the wraith and instead just watched as they moved into the forest in the opposite direction of his small group. Once they had been out of sight for at least ten minutes Ronon said very quietly "New plan, we will go to New Athos and then you can go home from there."

The locals nodded, they didn't want to give the wraith the time it would take to open the gate twice to get back.

"What were those things and where did they come from?" Dave asked equally as quietly even as Ronon ushered them towards the DHD.

"Wraith and it's a long story." Ronon told him punching in the gate address for New Athos. He had caught the look of incredulity on the faces of the locals and remembered his reaction the first time he had come across someone who had never heard of the wraith. He hit the last button on the DHD and it sprung to life. As soon as the wormhole stabilised the two locals stepped through closely followed by Jaume.

David hesitated but not wanting to give him the chance to ask any more questions Ronon gave him a soft shove which was enough to force him to take a step forward through the event horizon, Ronon following right behind him. As he emerged on the other side of the wormhole the gate shut down but this was not what drew Ronon's attention.

He and the others were staring down the barrels of wraith stunners. Following the barrel of the weapon to its handler Ronon recognised the man at the same time the other man recognised him. The man laughed as he lowered his weapon, the other Athosians following suit. "Ronon you have been missing for quite some time."

Ronon smiled ferally "You know me; can't hold on to me for long. Thanos, unfortunately we are somewhat under the gun. My companions here would like to use your gate to return home and then if you wouldn't mind could you send your IDC so we can return to Atlantis."

"Of course Ronon we shall do it now."

Ronon saw Dave staring at him and the Athosians as if they had grown extra heads; the other locals were already dialling the gate as their group moved out of the way of the event horizon. Once more the gate sprung to life and the two Pegasus locals thanked them briefly before stepping through and disappearing. The gate shut down and Ronon saw David's jaw hanging open "What is that thing?!"

Ronon just shrugged "It's a stargate, it creates a wormhole between one gate and another so we can travel, if you want more information you should ask McKay." He nodded to Thanos and the gate was dialled once more. When the gate activated and he had received confirmation from Thanos that the IDC had been sent and received he relaxed very slightly for the first time in a month, ushering David through the gate.