Chapter 7

It took them another hour's hard hiking to reach the eastern temple. By now the sun had set on the nightmare planet. To Sitnalta it appeared as if even the night sky was not as lovely as the one seen from Atlantis. But then again, as she knew exactly what the sky looked like from the planet Atlantis was on – even up to knowing which stars had habitable planets around it – this was not so strange. Or perhaps not. It almost seemed as if there was some kind of film in the air.

"Does the sky look dirty to you, as well?" she asked Rodney. The scientist looked up from the path at her. Then he looked up at the sky and she realised he had not even noticed the starlit sky.

"It is definitely not as pretty as the sky on Lantea," he answered. Fleetingly the disturbing thought flashed through her mind that by 'our planet' he was referring to earth. But then he unwittingly put that fear to rest: "It looks more like the sky seen from a city on earth."

They walked a few steps before Rodney suddenly stopped in his tracks. Sitnalta actually bumped into him. Her still slightly-undeveloped sense of balance failed her and she started to fall backwards. Luckily Rodney grabbed her arm and halted her fall. Still gripping her arm he suddenly looked into the distance – the way he always looked when his eyes were turned inwards into the intricacies of his own mind.

"But why would that be?" he asked. Physically Sitnalta might not be up to standard yet, but there was nothing wrong with her mind: a mind vast enough to have once encompassed an entire city. So immediately she knew he was fascinated by the fact that the sky was dull. Until now she had not realised this might be strange.

As neither she nor Rodney had an answer, they continued in silence to where they were told the eastern temple was. Perhaps there they might find some answers.

The path they were on was overgrown and winding, but eventually they reached its end. Whereas the path had been in the woods the last few miles, it now crested a hill. At the top the trees suddenly stopped and before them stretched a valley that palely reflected the moonlight. In the exact centre of the valley rose a magnificent tower.

A very familiar tower.

And in that moment Sitnalta realised where they were. She also understood why she hadn't realised it before: Atlantis wouldn't have. Though she was now human, her thoughts were still very much like those of the city. As a machine she had never made any mental leaps. That was a human trait: the ability to draw a conclusion from seemingly random facts and surmises. But if you changed even the slightest part of the data input on a machine, it does not even consider the fact that it might relate to previous data.

This sudden enlightenment thrilled her. Perhaps more than anything else she suddenly glimpsed her own humanity. She, Sitnalta, had been able to make the necessary mental leap to where they were and who the inhabitants of the planet were.

Unfortunately she could not share this information with Rodney. She was not ready for him to find out the truth about her creation.

So together they started their decent into the valley where Rodney would have to find his own answers to the mystery of this planet. Sitnalta knew them already and they frightened her. These people – the Merikkai – had both the power to hurt them as well as to reveal her true identity.

The hill they were on was soon left behind. It was as they reached its foot that they saw the reason for the reflected light: the entire valley was nothing more than a desert wasteland. The reflection was caused by the soft, white sand that covered the entire valley.

Rodney bent down and picked up a handful of the sand. Straightening, he let the grains run through his fingers. When the sand had run through, little grains still stuck to his fingers. With his other hand he tried to wipe it off, but much still clung.

"It's like sea sand," he remarked. Sitnalta frowned. She was not sure what he meant by 'sea sand.'

She said as much and he held out his hand, showing her the clingy grains. "Where the sea meets the land there is often a transition line. No vegetation grows on that line, as the sand is mostly too salty. Sometimes that sand is nothing more than ground up rock. But," and here he indicated the grains on his hand. Sitnalta's belly did a little flip-flop that nearly made her miss the rest of the explanation. "Sometimes the sand is ground up sea shells. And the sea shell sand looks like this." He grimaced and wiped his hand on the seat of his pants. "It also clings to everything."

"So this valley used to be an ocean bed?" Sitnalta asked, this time distracted by the sight of the fine white grains clinging to the dark cloth of Rodney's pants.

"Sitnalta!" the man next to her snapped and she realised he had been talking to her, affirming her observation, but she had not even noticed. She felt a heat rising in her face as she felt her first blush. It was not very pleasant. Fortunately the moon was not very bright.

"Sorry." Embarrassed by her reaction she was snappy in her reply. Rodney frowned, but let it slide. Together they set off into the mini-desert.

When they were halfway through, something like a slight breeze stirred the sand around them. After a moment the sand settled, only to leave behind a single dark object lying on the white earth.

"What is that?' Sitnalta asked as Rodney bent to pick up the object. As he straightened a look of bewilderment crossed his face. He held it out to her.

"It is one of Ronon's knives," he answered.