NINE
"What do you think?" John whispered, crawling forward on his belly through the underbrush. "They don't look very…"
"Organized?" Ronon finished.
"Someone's in charge." John shook his head. "A group of farmers wouldn't have figured out that gate on their own."
After the men used the gate, it faded from view back under its cloak. The last man remaining extracted the crystal and headed back the way he'd come.
He had no idea he was being followed.
Ronon surveyed the clearing, and the random mess of boxes and crates piled up in front of the mouth of a large cave. A dozen men milled about, some unpacking items from boxes and carting them into the darkened cavern, other's lazing about in the morning sun. The scruffily dressed group was easily defined as the ex-farmers. They wore local attire, joking and laughing as they worked.
Two sentries wearing faded navy uniforms occasionally came out to check their progress.
Ronon recognized them immediately.
"Corvi." He spat. "Traders. Gun runners. They'll do anything if you pay them enough. Last I heard they'd killed each other off."
"No honor among thieves." John quoted.
Ronon nodded. "Supposedly they fought over ownership of some fancy piece of technology."
"A cloaked gate is pretty damn fancy."
A commotion at the entrance caught their attention. Two more soldiers and a group of farmers exited the mouth of the cave and something was dropped onto the ground, causing a loud commotion.
The soldiers issued an order that sent a flash of fear through Ronon's soul. "Bury them," came the command and the navy uniforms disappeared into the mouth of the cave.
The farmers, standing silently, began to whisper frantically amongst themselves.
Ronon felt John's hand on his arm. "Easy." Came the whispered warning.
The crowd shifted, giving them a view of the body that was going to be buried and Ronon felt the air exit his lungs with a soft hiss.
It wasn't her.
But it didn't mean she couldn't be next.
Or wasn't already…
"We need to get inside." Ronon shook the thought away, looking about for another entrance or cave opening. The longer Jennifer remained captive, the bigger the chances were of her being mistreated – if she hadn't been already.
"We don't even know if she's even in there." John answered.
"She's there."
"You can't know that for sure." John countered.
"Uh, guys?" Rodney whispered.
"She's there." Ronon growled.
"Okay," John stretched the word out. "Let's just say, for argument's sake, that she is in there. How do you propose we get in and get her out?"
"Guys?" Rodney said again.
Ronon turned towards John. "We walk in."
"Guys!" Rodney interrupted, louder this time.
"What!" Both Ronon and John turned and came nose to barrel with long black rifles. McKay was standing a few feet away between two locally dressed men, only one of which appeared to be armed.
"Walk in." John turned towards Ronon. "Cute."
Ronon smiled slowly, and damned if he didn't feel the excitement of the hunt.
The minute their captors waved them to their feet he knew he could disarm them both with a flick of his wrist. But it wasn't time. They needed to get inside the cave, and walking in with an armed escort was the perfect solution.
He raised his hands in the air and waited.