Adrift
AN: Thanks once again for your reviews. The action cranks up from here (and the level of whumpage of course!)
Chapter Seven
SGA1 stepped through the Stargate portal. A quick glance round revealed the parked up MALP and a line of tall thin standing stones, ringing the Stargate like broken teeth. Ronon and Teyla quickly took up defensive positions behind two of the stones. Rodney and John simultaneously snapped open scanners and began to survey the area.
The 'gate stood in a large forest clearing ringed by immense trees, their trunks so tall that the topmost boughs disappeared into mist. The air was clammy and cold, the ground underneath their feet soggy moss and puddles. They could not see far into the surrounding forest as moisture hung in the air, obscuring every direction in fog.
"Anything McKay?" John was the first to speak.
"No, same readings as the MALP obtained – there are no energy sources on this part of the planet any higher than a cooking fire." Rodney was crouched over his scanner, trying to keep his bent knee from getting damp.
"Well there might be some of those – the life signs detector is picking up a group of people out in the forest about three hundred yards away."
"These would be people of the kill first and ask questions later variety?" Rodney muttered.
"Probably, but they're safe enough at this distance."
"Safe is a relative term out here, but there is no evidence to suggest that this is Grat's bargain shop. A compound of the size that he described, especially with Ancient tech. possibly operational, would throw up detectable readings – there is nothing here, John."
Rodney gave John a concerned glance – he was afraid of seeing that desperate look on his face that had marked the last few CMO hunting missions that he had accompanied him on.
But for once Sheppard seemed to be in his more normal alert, but relaxed mode.
"Let's check it out a bit more – see if we can get the locals to chat. Teyla, you're in the lead on this one. We'll leave the 'gate open just in case. Elizabeth has got full security in place on the other side."
The team moved away from the Stargate towards the woods. Teyla now led them, calling out the standard greetings and approaches that had served her people well in the past.
They stopped some hundred yards inside the forest listening intently. They could see very little even though the forest floor was only moss between the trees, except where fallen branches and leaf litter lay in piles. John had shushed Rodney, who had been muttering about the heavy water drops that constantly fell from the forest canopy high above, and the fact that water seemed to have already leaked inside his boots.
"Nothing, John." Teyla confirmed Sheppard's querying glance. "They are not even calling to each other that I can hear."
"I don't like this," Ronon was firm, "it's too open, too exposed and we have no way of seeing anyone attacking."
"The detector still says they are two hundred yards off, Ronon, and these people are armed with bows and arrows – they'll be in range of our weapons a long time before they can get near enough to use theirs."
John was very mistaken. There was a whistling sound and suddenly Ronon was staggering back, to collapse against the nearest tree, a short javelin-like spear embedded deeply in his side. He gave a roar of pain and shock and, before Teyla or John could stop him, Dex yanked the spear loose and slumped to his knees as blood blossomed like an obscene flower across his jacket.
"Ronon!" Teyla cried as she reached his side first and slipped her shoulder beneath his, supporting him so that John could check the damage.
"Damn – it's bad," Sheppard muttered, as he attempted to wrap a field bandage around the torn flesh, and apply pressure to slow the bleeding.
"And it's about to get a whole lot worse, Colonel! The hostiles are coming in fast and I think we can expect..." Rodney's warning was cut off as a hail of spears started to rain down out of the mist.
There was no more need to speak, the team fell into position. Rodney and Teyla moved to support Ronon who was gritting his teeth against the pain but showed no sign of giving in to his wound. John took up the rear and fired his P90 into the mist hoping to slow the advance.
They ran for the 'gate as best as they could. Rodney cursing the soft mossy ground that dragged their footsteps. John silently cursing another search attempt going belly up. This one had felt good, he had had a hunch that this time they might really be on the right track.
And he still felt that way.
Suddenly John was struck by the absolute certainty that if he just retreated through the Stargate, gave up without checking out this place properly, he would never see Carson Beckett again. The thought made his stomach clench like a punch to the gut.
They reached the edge of the trees, the Stargate waited invitingly across the clearing. John made his decision.
"Rodney, give me your scanner. Dex, I want to borrow your gun – I'll keep it safe. Head for the Stargate. I'm staying here to check this place out."
"What! Are you mad?" Rodney, looking somewhat crushed beneath Ronon's arm, stared at John horrified.
Ronon raised his drooping head. "No. The team stays together – your rules."
The strength in his voice was fading.
"Colonel – this is against all protocols – against your protocols." Teyla pushed Ronon more upright, as he started to sag against her, and spoke as harshly as he had ever heard her.
"Dr. Weir told me once that you had done this before – thrown away your career. Are you so willing to do it again?"
"We haven't got time to argue – this is an order. I'll be fine. I'll slip into the mist, have a look round and then return. I'll radio through if I need help and no-one, no-one is to come through the 'gate unless they hear from me – got it?"
They got it but none of them liked it. Only Ronon's worsening condition and the life signs detector, showing that they were running out of time, convinced the rest of his team to head for the Stargate, leaving John on the edge of the forest.
He picked up the supplies that he had forced from his team mates and quickly hid himself within the dark opening of a nearby hollowed out tree trunk. Then he watched three of his dearest friends struggle to the Stargate, urging them on fiercely and silently with clenched fists.
They went through and the portal whooshed close. Just in time, as finally, John got to see the inhabitants of this planet who possessed such deadly skills. A group of several dozen men broke past the tree, where he hid, at a run. Thin and pale skinned, as though the rain had leached all the colour out of them, they were dressed in animal skins of intricate cut and sturdy boots. They were armed to the teeth with spears and bows.
His action seemed foolhardy but John was following his instinct. As Teyla had pointed out – it wasn't the first time and he had paid dearly for it. But he knew that he would have done the same, even knowing the outcome, because he had been trying to save the life of a friend – and that was worth sacrificing everything for.
And this time it felt worse, like acid eating at his heart, worse than Holland, worse even than Ford and he would be damned if he gave up now!
He settled in the narrow, damp opening of the tree to watch events unfold. His main concern was that they would not obey his orders, that another team would come through the gate including Rodney and Teyla, and that concern grew as the hunters took up position around the Stargate.
As he had feared, it was not long before the Stargate reopened. The next thing that happened was that the MALP suddenly came to life and started a standard survey sweep. Jon could just picture Elizabeth giving instructions in the gate room – she was following protocol of course. It did not last long – a rain of projectiles descended upon the hapless machine, sent with deadly accuracy by the tribesmen, and it soon resembled nothing so much as a porcupine.
John got a certain grim satisfaction from that as he knew that no-one would now be sent through the gate until he was well overdue. He was preparing to move off into the mist when his scanner registered more life signs approaching. It seemed that some of their attackers had gone to tell someone of their presence.
Along the forest track came a group of people that really got John's attention. They were a complete contrast to the native hunters - their clothes and weapons easily recognisable as coming from a dozen worlds.
And John knew the tattooed face of their leader. It matched the description obtained from M 96X4 and Master Grat. He had found the bastards that he had been looking for so many weeks. They were clearly working hand in hand with the locals, and now there was a heated discussion going on by the Stargate.
Orders were shouted. One group started to pull the MALP away from the gate towards an animal cart now arriving from the woods. The rest took up a guard formation around the gate, while Tattoo went up to the DHD and, to John's dismay, removed the 'gate crystals.
He was trapped here but, far worse than that, he had created a deadly trap for Atlantis – if anyone came through the gate after him they would not be able to get back before being attacked.
He had no choice – he would have to follow the group that was now leaving the 'gate and retrieve the crystals. The thought that it might be a difficult task simply did not bother him because he knew that, at last, he was going to find out what had happened to Carson Beckett. He loaded his supplies and slipped into the mist.
TBC