Chapter Four
Sheppard's eyes widened as he peered down into the well-lit room far below the opening in the stone wall that he was carefully perched upon.
Hundreds of torches lined the outer walls of the enormous room and sand covered the floor from edge to edge, though large streaks of dark red discolored many of its areas.
At the very front of the room stood a gigantic statue of a half-man half-creature with a sinister looking mouth full of razor sharp teeth and black empty holes where its eyes should have been.
All of this was extremely disconcerting to Sheppard but not nearly as much so as what filled the remainder of the room.
The rest of the room was filled with people. People and creatures from other worlds, all kneeling and seemingly praying towards the ill-seeming idol; their voided interaction and lack of movement making Sheppard extremely uneasy.
Taking a brief inventory of over 100 people and creatures down below, Sheppard was about to motion Ronon and the others over when his eyes rested on an emblem that he found unmistakable.
There, amidst the crowd below, his eyes found a small American flag and quickly trailed upwards to find the face of an apparently unharmed Major Lorne.
All of Major Lorne's team were there beside him and they were all kneeling, all of their lower halves settled unmovingly into the dark sand, their heads bent in silence or otherwise softly mumbling in prayer.
Sheppard slowly backed up and resumed his place beside his team, hurriedly whispering what he had seen.
"Lorne and the others are here. Down through that hole I saw a room."
"How many others are there?" Ronon asked, quickly presuming the situation in his mind.
"About a hundred," Sheppard whispered back.
"Weapons?"
"I didn't see any."
"Well then, what are we waiting for?" Ronon turned as he finished his words and the others followed suit as he headed towards the declining slope of the hallway, just past the open ledge.
The journey below was swift and soon they stood in the shadowy entrance of the gigantic room, the metallic skin of the false idol beckoning them nearer.
"How shall we proceed?" Teyla asked quietly as they all peered cautiously into the crowded domain.
"I think the less of a scene we make the better. I'm going in...alone. And-," Sheppard put a hand up to halt Ronon's immediate protest,"-no arguments."
Sheppard began to remove his central weapon holster and handed it to an astonished Rodney who stared at him with his mouth opened wide in surprise.
"You're going without a weapon? What are you; nuts?"
Sheppard shook his head side to side, and smiled slightly as he opened the inner section of his vest revealing a well concealed pistol.
"No. I just want to look like I'm nuts."
Sheppard nodded to the others, an unneccessary gesture to ensure they were ready with their own weapons in case something should happen once he entered the crowd.
Ronon and Teyla both took aim, still masked by the flickering shadows the torches cast upon the dirty stone walls and Sheppard entered slowly into the room.
He tilted his head down slightly as soon as his feet hit the softness of sand, an imitation of the others as they remained solemnly in prayer and hoped they didn't look up to notice his roving eyes as they flittered back and forth across the sea of many faces, searching for that American flag or the faces of his friends.
As he slowly made his way through the din, trying to avoid bumping into anyone and attempting to appear as though he belonged, his eyes caught a closer glimpse of the massive statue the front of the room beheld and even Sheppard stopped in awe of its intensity.
The bronze diety was the size of a large building in itself, its tarnished glow and blood spattered body eerily glinting in the firelight. Sheppard felt captivated by the emptiness of its eyes; the blackness and utter nothing that they held momentarily filling his head.
Shaking the feeling, he continued his search, every so often mumbling the alphabet as he passed by others to keep up appearances that he was also in prayer before he finally caught sight of the small American flag ten feet from his left.
Involuntarily moving faster towards it, he put a strong hand out and clamped it down on Lorne's forearm, standing right beside him to avoid anyone noticing his harsh movement.
Lorne turned towards him, his head slowly picking up from his apparent concentration and looked right at Colonel Sheppard, a vast smile growing wide across his face.
"Colonel. We're so happy you could join us."
Sheppard stepped back and nearly fell over his own feet in the sand, all other thoughts and appearances quickly falling away.
Lorne's eyes were gone and in their place remained a thick black liquid.
Please leave a review...