The Price of Freedom – Part 10

McKay swayed under the load of goods that Ramo had dumped on him to take through the Stargate and although it had been all part of the plan, Rodney thought he'd gone a little overboard with the amount. After all, he wasn't a carthorse.

The jumper hovered patiently behind him and the trader as they prepared to return to Tandara. It was cloaked and ready to move the minute the two men entered the event horizon, as Major Lorne planned to follow regardless of whether the distraction worked or not. He couldn't risk having the wormhole shut down by the slavers before they could get through.

As the wormhole formed, McKay doggedly followed Ramo and a few seconds later, he was confronted by an armed slaver demanding to see his papers. Ramo was talking to the other sentry. Thankfully, they were standing well away from the event horizon. Rodney knew that he had to move quickly before the jumper came through, so he lurched to one side as if the load he was carrying had become too much to handle. Unfortunately, what was supposed to have been an act became the real thing when he completely lost his balance and tumbled down the steps, scattering Ramo's goods all over the place.

The trader made a show of being very angry as he stormed over to his old companion, ranting and raging about how clumsy he was. In all the confusion and noise, no one noticed the whoosh of air and the slight hum as the jumper passed overhead. No one except McKay. With the jumper safely through and wanting no more trouble, Rodney held up his hands and made a gesture of apology before fishing into his pockets to produce the necessary document.

This seemed to satisfy the slavers, but neither of them made a move to help McKay or Ramo as they quickly gathered up the scattered goods. Five minutes later, they were heading towards the town and the planned rendezvous point.

When the jumper finally came into view as it de-cloaked, Rodney let out the breath that he hadn't realised he'd been holding. It seemed that things had gone much better than planned, for once.

Turning to Ramo, he said. "Well, I guess this is where we say goodbye. And err … thank you."

"You are welcome but do not forget that after you get your man, please leave this planet as quickly as you can. I do not want my cover compromised."

"Oh, you needn't worry about that, your secret is safe with us. I don't want to stay here any longer than necessary. Your planetary system st---"

Luckily, Teyla chose that moment to slip out of the hatch and call. "Dr. McKay! It would be advisable not to stay uncloaked for too long."

"Yes, yes, you're right." Quickly dumping the goods into Ramo's arms, Rodney headed for the jumper. "Don't drop anything!" He threw over his shoulder before disappearing into the re-cloaked vehicle.

The trader scowled over the top of his pile. McKay and his people were certainly a mystery but it was one that he wasn't willing to question.

-SGA-

Remaining constantly on the alert, John heard the faint sound of shifting stones around a slight bend in the pathway. He couldn't see anyone but without a second thought, he moved into the woods as quiet and fast as his bleeding feet would allow and waited. A few minutes later, the second guard came into view. The man appeared to be alone, obviously being used as a messenger.

With a sinking feeling, John knew that he couldn't allow the guard to find Halden's corpse. Therefore, he had to act quickly. However in the back of his mind came hesitation. Did the guard still have the fancy weapon on him? Regardless, John had no other choice, so holding his knife firmly, he allowed the man to pass by before emerging from his hiding place.

Moving as quietly as he could, he ignored the stabbing pain that twisted up his legs with each careful step. The guard seemed completely oblivious as John stealthily approached his vulnerable back, and although the element of surprise was on John's side, would it be enough?

The guard suddenly halted when a stone slipped from under John's bare foot. Without a second thought, using his knowledge and expertise, John immediately lunged for the man's exposed neck. He hated killing this way but he had no other option.

It was over in a matter of seconds and the man fell to the ground without a sound. Withdrawing the knife, John quickly looked around and with an effort that his body really couldn't afford, he dragged the corpse into the trees to hide it before searching for the missing keys.

Once again, he came up empty handed, which meant only one thing Karakus must have them. The guard didn't have the bladed weapon on him, only another simple dagger. With a disappointed sigh, John eased himself up and prepared to confront the master while still in chains, and armed only with two daggers.

It wasn't that far to the camp now, but John's body was telling him in no easy terms that it had had enough and the world swayed for a moment or two as he started out on trembling legs. His mild fever had risen leaving him flushed and shaky. Blood covered much of his clothing, and even if most of it wasn't his, John was pretty sure that some of it was. However, he had come this far, so nothing short of death was going to stop him from getting Karakus now.

Pure determination and stubbornness ultimately brought John to the edge of the encampment. He took a moment to access the situation from behind a leafy bush. It seemed that Karakus had decided to take another meal while he waited. Presumably for the second guard to return with news that the so-called hunt could begin. Once again, his serving slaves were all over their master seeing to his every need and John took note of the fact that the shotgun was carelessly propped up against the table, the bladed weapon was nowhere in sight.

John weighed up the odds. A straightforward attack would probably end in disaster. Then a plan of sorts began to form in his mind. Although, it was a long shot and entirely depended on the slaves not interfering and helping their master.

Somehow, John had to lure Karakus towards the edge of the cliff. So keeping a distance from the camp, he slowly edged his way towards the drop off mainly to see what the conditions were like at the bottom.

John had nearly made it when a yell filled the air; one of the slaves had caught sight of him. Cursing, he desperately searched for some cover before Karakus could take aim. The odds weren't looking so good as the nearest rock or tree was some 30 metres away. He couldn't run anymore without suffering excruciating pain, so he decided to take a stance and hope that the master's aim wasn't all that good.

When Karakus reacted to the slave's shout, John could almost see the fat wobbling and his jowls quivering with indignation or maybe even fright. He was shouting something to his slaves while reaching for his gun. John couldn't make out what Karakus was saying but he guessed that it was orders to protect their master. That was something John didn't really want, but he couldn't do a thing about it if the slaves decided to intervene.

With nothing to lose, John slowly closed the distance.

-SGA-

"That's it!" McKay exclaimed loudly, pointing a finger towards the familiar and ugly fortress.

Lorne looked up from the pilot seat. "Okay, what do we do now? Just fly in and demand Colonel Sheppard back?"

Ronon fingered his gun and nodded with enthusiasm, but Teyla put a calming hand on his shoulder. "That is one way to get the Colonel killed before we can recover him."

"Yes, Teyla is right. Firstly we need to check if he is even in there," stated McKay. "Then I would suggest we land and try to extract him without being noticed."

The major shook his head. "From that place? I doubt that's possible, doc. It seems to be pretty well guarded to me."

"Yes, I know that but let's make sure he's not being held in the mine or some other location before we act, shall we?" Fiddling with a few controls, Rodney unnecessarily announced. "Switching on the LSD."

They all turned to look at the HUD. There were plenty of life signs showing on the display and then a faint signal registered as Sheppard's subcutaneous transmitter. Much to their relief, it wasn't coming from within the fortress.

-SGA-

It was still drizzling, making the rocks and stones extremely slippery to walk on. John stumbled from time to time while he kept his eyes fixed on Karakus.

The monstrous man was still flapping, almost panicking while he attempted to lift the awkward gun and take aim. Eventually, Karakus managed to control the gun and John watched in slow motion as the thing went off with a loud report, which caused Karakus's oversized body to momentary jerked backwards from the recoil.

John instantly threw himself to one side but not quick enough to avoid some of the shot slamming into his shoulder. High on adrenaline and endorphins, he hardly felt a thing. He knew he'd pay for it later, if he survived. Staggering to his feet, John had to move quickly before Karakus had a chance to reload. Thankfully, the gun seemed to be a single shot affair.

John was only thankful that the slavers hadn't taken it into their heads to sell his P90 to the grotesque overlord. Against that weapon, he wouldn't have stood a chance. No doubt, they had kept his and Rodney's weapons for themselves.

Seeing that his shot had failed to kill the unruly slave, Karakus really began to really panic. Once again, he fumbled to reload the ungainly weapon while his dutiful slaves all stood behind their master looking very hesitant and confused. John hoped that they would stay where they were but unfortunately, as he began to move closer, it looked like some of them were prepared to defend their master.

That was until a female voice suddenly rang out. "It is time to free yourselves!" Distracted for a moment, everyone turned to see Sirena emerge from the woods.

"My god, woman! What the hell are you doing here?!" Karakus shouted. "I will have you thrown in the dungeon and put in chains for this."

"I am here to see justice done and to save a good man," replied Sirena, calmly. "Your reign of terror is at an end Karakus. But that is up to you, my fellow slaves. Are you going to let him continue to give you no peace?"

The slaves threw uncertain looks at each other, still unsure about what to do. Sirena continued to plead with them, urging them to rebel.

Karakus was sweating hard now, his face red and puffy. He pulled nervously at his collar because he knew very well that he was hopelessly outnumbered if his slaves decided to act against him.

Holding his gun steady, he took a step back, putting him dangerously close to the drop off. Somehow, during Sirena's pleas, he had managed to reload his gun. However, he seemed to have forgotten all about John as he took aim at what he saw as a new threat - Sirena.

John saw it and acted on instinct. Holding one of the knives steady, he sprinted forward to slam himself bodily into the obnoxious man. The gun discharged harmlessly into the air when the master's aim was sidetracked by the force of John's weight, but because he was so colossal, Karakus hardly budged from the spot. John, however, fell hard to land uncomfortably close to the drop off. Seeing the threat, he quickly scrambled to safety before he could fall over the edge.

Due to his massive bulk, Karakus didn't even realise that he'd been injured until he felt a small stab of pain. Surprised, he looked down to see a knife embedded about half way up his chest on the right hand side. Pushing it off as no real consequence, he began roaring and stomping about furiously while attempting to hit John with the butt of his weapon.

Suddenly, a soft rumbling sound echoed across the ridge. It was followed by an ominous crack as part of the cliff began to crumble away. Karakus froze for a second when he realised what was about to happen. Then in total panic, he quickly turned towards the camp, but before he could take one-step, the ground beneath his feet suddenly disappeared from under him.

Collapsing onto his belly, Karakus started to slide towards the edge. Desperate, he frantically reached out to scramble for a secure hold among the loose stones and dirt but his short plump fingers found nothing to grip.

John was fighting his own battle when the rockslide threatened to gather up his battered body. He frantically searched for his own handhold. Luckily, he quickly found a strong protruding root to grab. Winded and trembling, he rested for a few seconds to regain his breath, and although he was very weak and exhausted, he slowly attempted to pull himself up and away from the crumbling edge with both hands holding onto the root.

Just to the side of John, Karakus was losing his battle as nothing he did was halting his slow progress over the side. With one last evil act and the need to take the unruly slave with him, Karakus made a desperate lunge for John's dangling chain. His first attempt failed, so he tried again. Then at the last second, his hand closed over the chain and he yanked it forcibly before letting his body fall to its doom.

John suddenly felt himself violently pulled and he nearly lost his precious hold on the root. Hastily, he fought to free himself by kicking at the hand that was holding the chain. However, nothing seemed to shift the weight and the slave collar began to bite painfully into his neck, threatening to strangle him as it cut off his air.

With a sinking feeling, John felt his hands slipping through the root as the dangling burden became too much to bear. With nothing to stop him, the cliff edge came rushing up and his body was launched into thin air.

In the distance, John thought he heard a woman's scream but his world was closing down rapidly as the darkness rushed up to take him and he knew no more.

Tbc

Sorry about the evil cliffy but I won't keep you waiting for the next part.