The Price of Freedom - Part 8

"So ya went with this trader to Lucia and then onto Teyla's people's planet before dialling back Atlantis?"

"Yes, yes, of course, Carson, how else was I going to get home after they took my GDO? I met up with Halling and he was only too willing to give me his GDO to di-"

"It's a good job Halling and his people are a friendly bunch. Looking the way ya did it's a wonder they didn't toss ya back." Carson interrupted as he finished removing Rodney's artificial beard and made to throw it in the nearest trash receptacle.

"Oh, no, no, no." Rodney nearly shouted making Carson jump a little. "Watch what you're doing with that, I need to keep it intact."

"Now why in heavens name would ya be wanting to keep an artificial beard for, Rodney?"

"Because my dear, Carson, I need to use it when I return to Tandara."

Elizabeth immediately caught McKay's words from where she stood a short distance away discussing something with Teyla. Quickly moving over, she confronted him. "Rodney, you are not going back there."

"Oh, and who is going to rescue Sheppard?"

"We'll send a team in a cloaked jumper. Major Lorne can lead them and I'm sure Ronon and Teyla will want to be included."

McKay gave her one of his long-suffering looks. "Oh and how do you propose to get through the Stargate without alerting the slavers … huh?"

Elizabeth knew that Rodney had a good point but she hated it when he became overly snarky. Obviously, he was worried about John and maybe, he even felt some guilt over having to leave him behind but his sarcasm wasn't helping matters. "Rodney, we need to talk this through and plan it properly. I know you want to be the one to go back but I think the risk is too high."

Of course, Rodney had failed to tell them one very vital piece of information. "My return is already arranged."

Elizabeth threw him a look of astonishment. "I beg your pardon?"

Rodney suddenly realised his mistake. "Oh! Didn't I tell you?"

Carson decided to speak up, as Elizabeth was still looking rather speechless. "Tell us what, Rodney?"

"That I've arranged to meet up with the trader and go back to Tandara in two days time. That's when he planned to return anyway." When they still looked unconvinced, he continued. "I thought it would be an ideal opportunity to get a rescue team through without being noticed."

Teyla decided to join the conversation and add her own concerns. "I believe the slavers will still hear the Jumper pass even though it is cloaked."

"Yes, yes, that's true. That's why I need to distracted them for a few minutes."

"And how do you plan to do that? Assuming that I allow you to go, Rodney," Elizabeth questioned him with a slightly louder voice than normal.

McKay turned to give her a pleading look. "I have to go. I can't leave him there. Anyway, how else do you plan on getting pass the guards?"

Elizabeth sighed as he had a good point. "We'll talk about this after you've had a good rest. Alright?" Rodney nodded, reluctantly, but it was an argument that he had every intention of winning.

-SGA-

A sharp rod painfully prodding his side roused John from his stupor. The poking accompanied his tormenter's harsh voiced question. "Are you comfortable, slave?"

John opened a bleary eye to give the tyrant a disdainful look. "Yeah."

The guard known as Halden laughed loudly. "You have a very strange sense of humour. It is a pity that you are such a useless murdering piece of slime."

John found that rather ironic coming from a man such as Halden who probably had no qualms about killing a slave. He straightened and attempted to shift into a more comfortable position, but he could hardly move at all, being confined and held upright in a very tight cage. The effort of moving caused another ripple of agony to pass through his body when the cold metal mesh cut into his damaged skin.

This was his second day of incarceration and his discomfort was growing by the hour. The sides of the cage continually pressed into his battered body and he'd been given nothing to eat or drink other then some moisture from a wetted sponge which had been thrust through the mesh several times a day. It had hardly touched his thirst.

John had no doubt in his mind that he'd been put up here to die. It would be a slow and painful death. Nevertheless, unless something changed soon that would be the definite outcome.

The cage had been suspended from the fortress wall so that all could witness his suffering. They had left him as an example to the other slaves, no doubt to warn them of the cost of defiance. Each day the household slaves had been forced to trail by him, a few at a time. He'd been told that they would come every day until they witnessed his dead and saw his rotting corpse. John hadn't cared much about the others but when Sirena had been pushed before him, he had seen genuine pain and tears in her eyes, and that had hurt.

Night was fast approaching, his second night. The first night had been warmer. However, this one was growing chillier by the minute and it looked like it could rain. Yet, John welcomed the thought; at least it would give him some water.

The wind was whipping up into quite a gale, pushing leaves and dust into his prison cage. John shivered violently as another blast of cold air hit his exposed skin through the rough mesh. They had stripped him of his clothing apart from his underwear but that offered little in the way of protection. His shivering became more pronounced when a strong gust of wind announced the first drops of icy rain, and as they began to fall, it drove his tormenter inside.

Although his teeth chattered, John lifted his head as much as possible and opened his mouth to capture the falling drops. It gave him some welcome relief. However, unable to move his arms, he couldn't wrap them around his freezing body to conserve any heat as the rain turned to a heavy downpour. Soaking him more than he possibly needed.

His shivering grew extreme and with it his pain. John lowered his head and squeezed his eyes shut against the agony. He knew that if it didn't stop raining soon, he would freeze to death before the night was over. Strangely, he almost welcomed it, as it would finally give him peace from his torment.

-SGA-

Gallus Karakus was mightily pleased with himself as he lifted his podgy hand to push another delicate pastry into his big mouth. Thanks to a careless slave, a new seam of gold had been discovered at the mine making him even richer.

Licking his fingers clean of the sticky sugary coating, he scowled as Halden came striding into the room, looking greatly pleased and smug. Karakus really didn't want to be disturbed by the annoying man but his curiosity made him ask. "What makes you so happy, guard?"

Halden snickered behind his hand. "It is raining, Master, which means that the murdering slave will probably be dead come sunup."

Karakus leaned forward on his gold and silk padded throne to ponder his words. "If that is the case, then he will not have given us much entertainment."

At those words, Halden lost some of his excitement. "Yes, that is true, Master."

Without replying, Karakus stood with some difficulty. He then shuffled over to a small window to peer outside. He couldn't see much as the lashing rain splattered heavily against the glass making visibility extremely obscure. So pressing his face against the pane, Karakus ordered that the oil lamps be dimmed. He continued to stare in vain until a lull in the rain cleared the visibility enough for him to make out the distant wall and the silhouette of the cage containing the condemned slave.

Such a waste, he thought. It annoyed him intensely that he had never broken the man. The bastard would die, but he would die without servitude to the true master of Tandara. Namely him, Karakus the Great.

Death seemed an easy way out. Far too easy, Karakus pondered as he recalled the words the troublesome slave had spoken just before his interment. Seething with rage over the death of the guard, Karakus had once again asked the slave who the hell he thought was by killing his man in cold blood. The slave had quietly answered, "A free man defending another."

Karakus had lost his temper at those words and had lashed out, beating the slave repeatedly with his small whip as the guards had held him upright. "You will never be free again!" Karakus had screamed before ordering that the slave be placed in the cage.

Turning from the window, Karakus continued to ponder. There was something about the slave. Something that tasted like power, of a man aware of command, Karakus had recognised it from the beginning and it had frightened him.

Common sense told him to leave the man out there to die in the bitterly cold and wet night. However, where was the challenge in that? Karakus thought. He liked a challenge and he liked to think that he was a sporting man. Karakus stopped to consider as an idea began to form. He had hunted slaves before but never one with such defiant willpower and courage. Yes, it would be very interesting indeed to see how long the slave could avoid him before he got him in his sights.

Turning to Halden, he surprised the guard by saying. "Get the slave down and put him in a warm and dry place. Then see to it that he gets good food and his injuries cared for."

Halden's mouth dropped open before he stuttered in confusion. "Yes, Master. Are you sure? That will not show a good example to the other slaves."

Karakus narrowed his eyes at the man. "Do you question my orders?"

"Oh, no, Master, I only question the wisdom of such a move."

"The other slaves will learn quickly enough what it means to defy me when they see me bring home his corpse after I have shot him down like an animal. You can then leave his body to rot on the wall for all I care."

Halden brightened at those words. "Oh, yes. That is a very good idea, Master."

"Yes, I thought so, too. That is why I am the Master and you are just a simple guard." With a wave of his fat hand, he dismissed the man.

-SGA-

John was barely aware as they lowered the cage and pulled him out. He felt a blanket thrown over his shoulders but it hardly touched the feeling of being frozen to the core. And as they dragged him into the warmth of the fortress, John was sure that he was bordering on hypothermia because his body continued to shudder violently.

He expected to be taken to the dungeons or worse but was greatly surprised when they took him into a small but comfortably warm room, where he was lowered onto a soft surface. Someone gently dried him off and removed his wet underwear before wrapping cosy blankets around this frozen body.

John eventually allowed himself to drift when the violent shivers began to subside and tiny amount of comfort crept into his bones.

A soft familiar voice woke him sometime later, encouraging him to drink from a cup of warming broth. He managed to sip a small amount before looking up into the worried eyes of Sirena, not really understanding what was going on.

Sirena hushed him and encouraged him to drink, but a few sips later, he could manage no more. She put the cup aside and then stroked his brow. "Are you feeling warmer now?"

Unable to find his voice for a moment, John simply nodded. His pain had increased with the warmth and he drifted near to unconsciousness. However, before he allowed it to overtake him, he had one question to ask. "Why … am I here … and not still in the … cage?"

John thought he saw a look of foreboding and concern in her eyes before she answered him. "Halden is gloating that the Master has found a better punishment for you. I am worried, John, as rumour has it that the Master intends to hunt you down."

The information left John confused. "What?"

"His hunting grounds. He will let you rest and recover for a few days and then take you into the woods and shoot you down like a poor helpless Teekie."

Through his hazy mind, John thought that that didn't sound so good. "I supposed … he'll have all the weapons … while I'll have none?" Sirena nodded sadly. "Oh, very … fair." However, John felt too exhausted and sick to worry about it now, so he let go and drifted into oblivion as Sirena continued to soothe his troubled brow.

Tbc