CHAPTER 3
Day 2
They awoke in the morning to raucous bird calls and squirrels' scolding. McKay looked down and paled. It had been bad enough in the dark. In the murky dawn it seemed they were very, very high especially since the fog hid the ground.
He turned away from the disturbing view to see how he could help get them down. Ronon automatically swept Rodney, checking on him. "McKay," concern made his voice sharp as he stepped over and tilted McKay's face sideways to get a better look in the dim light. "You're hurt," he sounded slightly accusing.
"Bruised," McKay shrugged. "It's nothing."
Ronon remembered then McKay's muttered remark under the tree roots. "Where else?" He demanded as his gut clenched at the huge black and blue splotches under McKay's right eye and on his jaw.
"Stop!" McKay glared at him and smacked his hands away. "I got a few bruises yesterday. Considering the possibilities I'm perfectly fine. Now can we get down to solid, if dangerous, ground?"
Ronon thought about pushing the issue for a moment then he recognized the pride in Rodney's eyes. Ronon realized he wouldn't want anyone making a big deal of any of his minor injuries. It was hard not to be overprotective of McKay especially since Sheppard often was. "Fine." He heaved the packs over the edge letting them drop to the ground.
Slowly they made the trip back around the trunk after Ronon lowered the packs to the ground. Sheppard went down first standing against the tree trunk and keeping his eye's peeled for danger. Teyla scrambled down next. Ronon helped McKay over the branch and then watched intently as he made his way awkwardly down the rope. He didn't miss the quickly covered wince. More bruises under his clothes then.
Finally, Ronon lowered himself over the branch and made his way down to the forest floor. He had attached Teyla's rope to the looped end of the one around the branch so when he reached the ground he pulled on Teyla's rope and soon both ropes were pooling on the forest floor.
They all ate power bars as they trudged through the morning forest, fog again swirling around their legs as normal forest life went on around them. They continued to follow the path of yesterday's chase; Ronon having made a directional marker last night to keep them from being confused in the morning.
Two hours later with directional help from the detector they were near the Gate. Just before the Gate came into view McKay hissed, 'stop'. He showed the detector, which he had switched back to predator detector as soon as they had a confirmed direction to the Gate, to them rather than risk being heard.
Between them and the Gate were three life signs that were dodging toward each other and then away. Creeping forward a scene from the movies greeted them. The T-Rex was fighting the two allosaurus for the remains of a huge creature in the middle of the clearing.
"We wait." Sheppard ordered, hunkering down behind giant ferns and trying to get comfortable.
"We wait!" McKay's voice rose with surprise. "Here?" His hands waved around. "Do I need to remind you that our danger increases exponentially the longer we are out here? As much fun as yesterday's obstacle course was, I don't want to repeat it."
"We need to get off this world. They leave. We dial Atlantis."
McKay looked to the huge predators still battling although the T-Rex appeared to be losing against the other two. "Fine, but if they don't leave, we need to find someplace defensible because when darkness falls a whole different set of predators start moving around if you didn't get that from last nights noises."
"What about caves?" Ronon asked.
"Caves would be good." McKay agreed.
"Can you reprogram the detector to find some?" Sheppard asked.
"It's a Life Signs Detector not a geology detector." McKay ranted.
"And you are a genius," Sheppard responded goading McKay. "And that," he pointed at the meat-eaters, "is impending death."
McKay glared at him. Sheppard gazed calmly back at him. "Maybe," is all McKay said before turning his attention to the device. Over his head Ronon, Teyla, and Sheppard exchanged triumphant grins. A 'maybe' from Rodney was as good as a 'yes'.
A few minutes later McKay whispered, "You do realize that if I reconfigure this to a cave detector we won't be able to detect anything coming at us?"
"I think we'll hear the big guy."
"Ummm, yes. Again did you watch Jurassic Park?" He asked like Sheppard was an idiot.
"Yes."
"Okay, those tiny quiet frilly neck lizards. Travels in packs. Tears you apart bite by bite while you scream. Those weren't made up by Hollywood. They really existed. And just for fun let's recall velociraptors. They also run in packs. Stand about two foot tall with clawed feet. Oh, and they don't care if you are dead or not when they take the first bite either."
John paled his whole body going very, very still. "Forgot about them."
"Yes, well, the choice is yours, oh fearless leader." McKay watched him intently waiting for him to decide.
"Reconfigure it." He waited quietly knowing McKay would get them headed to safety.
The T-Rex decided he didn't like the way the battle was going and departed with frustrated roars, bashing a small tree in anger as he passed. The tree canted sideways, but didn't fall over.
The two allosaurus ripped into their hard won meal, growling and chomping and slurping. It was enough to make anyone slightly ill just listening to them.
The sun slowly rose as Rodney muttered and configured and scanned until he finally thought he had something.
"It's difficult to tell with all the thick foliage, but it looks like that direction." He pointed off at an angle past the gate and in the opposite direction than they had originally went.
Without waiting for a response he started moving along the tree line knowing they had to circumvent the clearing before they could begin heading for the cave. He also knew the rest would be right behind him protecting him. His job: solve the problem. Their job: keep him alive to solve the problem. Quite beneficially symbiotic if you thought about it.
It took them an hour to circumvent the clearing without alerting the allosaurus to their presence. Several times their heads had lifted and they had sniffed the air frozen in an alert pose until satisfied they was alone. They would wait several more minutes before daring to move on. None of them wanted another run through the forest like yesterday. Somehow, they doubted they would have the same incredible luck they had had the day before. They were all sweating profusely from the exertion and the humidity before they reached the opposite side of the clearing.
By this time the sun had burned off most of the fog so they had even less cover than before. The up side was that smaller predators also had less cover to hide in. Even though they were all getting tired and thirsty they didn't stop until they were several yards from the clearing.
The forest wasn't quite so dense here and although there was still plenty of shade it was hot. The sunlight fell in broad shafts between the trees to the ground. The uneven ground made walking difficult; down here and up there. Tiny gullies made a twisted ankle a real hazard. Sheppard noticed that McKay was beginning to flag, but that he had that determined look which meant he wouldn't say he was wearing out. No, he would keep silently trying to keep up with them until he just collapsed quietly to the ground. Sheppard stopped beside some moss covered logs and called a ten minute halt.
They all pretended not to hear McKay's muttered, "Thank God." The heat and humidity was being to get to even Ronon and he sank down on a log and took a long pull on his canteen.
"How much further, McKay?" Ronon let his head droop forward.
"About ¾ mile."
"All right," Sheppard said fifteen minutes later. "Let's get going. I'd like to be safe and cozy before night falls."
With moans all around they were on their way. The forest was thinning rapidly which let them move quicker and they picked up the pace slightly, but the ravines and low hills kept them to a moderate pace.
One minute they were alone the next there were hissing frilled lizards on three sides of them. About a foot and a half tall with a large bronze frill fanning out about their faces and hissing menacingly as they swayed in place the lizards looked both dangerous and comical.
"Eight on the right."
They backed away weapons swinging in slow arcs. "Nobody panic." Sheppard murmured. "Maybe they're just curious."
"Seven to the left." Ronon had his gun in one hand and a long knife in the other.
"The cave is in a straight line behind us." McKay informed them softly. "You know we can't out run them, right?" Panic filled his voice, but he continued to aim his gun at the tiny predators with hands that didn't shake - much.
"Nine in front."
One pacing them in the path hissed and ran at them. As if on cue the others leaped forward.
"Crap!" Sheppard yelled.
Teyla fired her semi-automatic at the ones to the right while Sheppard fired at the ones in the path. Ronon and McKay shot to the left. All the while backing down the path.
Teyla finished the ones on her side and swung around to help Sheppard just as Ronon snarled in pain. She looked over her shoulder to see him shooting at the ones jumping at his face while trying to dislodge one from his leg.
The frilled lizard tilted its head back to take another bite when its body flew sideways and twitched. Ronon flicked a look at McKay. "Thanks" he grunted as he shot another one.
"No problem," McKay said shakily as he jerked another shot off in instinctive response to another lizard leaping at him. The shot went wide just barely grazing the lizard and Ronon shot it.
Another burst of fire from Sheppard and he said, "That looks like all of them." Then he looked up the path where a light pattering was heard.
"Run." They ran flat out as fast as McKay could run. He ran faster than he thought he could run. He always ran faster in the field than he did in Atlantis. "Adrenaline," he would say whenever Ronon asked him about it and Ronon would chuckle.
Teyla and Sheppard let loose volleys of ammo behind them as they ran. "Where did they come from?" Sheppard yelped as he mowed down more of the little lizards.
"Does it matter?" Teyla responded sending a volley of her own.
Sheppard glanced back saw a huge mass of them chasing them. "Forget this," he growled and pulled a grenade off his vest. Pulling the pin, he counted to three and tossed it. His experience showed as the grenade landed right in the middle of them and exploded sending frilly lizards flying.
Apparently, the few remaining had enough and stopped screaming frustration and hunger at the humans as the four of them kept running.
Twenty tension filled minutes later they stopped where the scanner indicated the cave should be. At first, they didn't see it, then Sheppard noticed a dark hole against the side of a steep hill hidden behind a cascade of thick vegetation. They stopped at a felled tree. Collapsing against the mossy bark and breathing harshly as they all tried to catch their breaths.
Cautiously, they approached. Brushing the vegetation aside they tried unsuccessfully to see into the interior.
"Want me to check it out?" Ronon volunteered glancing at Sheppard.
"One of us has to." Sheppard commented casually then flicked a glance at Ronon's leg. "You're injured. I'll do it."
"If you will wait," McKay said testily, chest heaving from exertion. "I can convert this back to life signs and then no one will need to fight cave bears or whatever else might have made this cave a den."
"And I will check your leg while he is doing so." Teyla told Ronon in a voice that brooked no argument.
"Its nothing." Ronon replied as she knelt down and pushed up his legging.
"Never is," Rodney muttered earning a dark glare. Retreating to the far side of one of the giant trees McKay collapsed on the roots in exhaustion and let his head fall back against the tree.
"Here." He opened his eyes to see a power bar and a canteen of water thrust at him. Putting the detector down on the rough bark next to him he took the offerings with a grunt of thanks.
"It could get infected." Teyla stated pulling out her first aid kit and dowsing a cotton pad with a liquid antiseptic.
Ronon hissed as she dabbed the bite with the stinging liquid. He hated that stuff. It felt like wet fire on his torn skin. "Just bandage it," he hissed gritting his teeth to keep from crying out.
"There," Teyla wrapped a sterile bandage around his leg. "That is all I can do."
A few minutes later while his team mates kept their eyes peeled and senses alert for danger he set about the task of converting the detector back to its original function. Finally, he gave a sound of satisfaction and stood up. "Okay then let's check it out." He moved toward the entrance pushing a button here and there adjusting signal strength to compensate for the rock density.
"Well?" Ronon asked impatiently.
McKay glanced up at him. "It only goes a few yards in, but I can't detect anything living."
"Well," Sheppard said with an easy smile, "let's check it out." He flipped his P-90's scope light on and stepped into the cave. Ronon followed his gun out and a pen light in the other hand. Teyla waited until Rodney flicked on his flashlight and entered before following suit.
The cave was cool and dry making them all sigh in relief as the temperature dropped a good ten degrees within a few feet of the entrance. A slight breeze fanned their faces indicating another entrance somewhere. The deeper they went, slowly scanning for any residents, the cooler it got. Sheppard and Ronon went down the middle with Teyla and Rodney inspecting the sides.
About twelve feet into the cave, just as they were beginning to relax, McKay called out softly. "I think we have company." The sound of three weapons being brought to bear and chambered echoed off the cave walls. "What the…?" McKay asked startled at their reactions. He took in the weapons aimed in his direction. "Let me rephrase. I found evidence," he pointed at the cave floor, "that someone else is on the planet."
At his feet was a fire ring, two wooden containers of water, what looked to be a mid-size wooden chest, a large mound of dry grass and fern fronds, a couple of tattered blankets and a several cured animal hides. Off to the side was a stack of dried wood.
"If someone else has been trapped here, John we need to offer our help." Teyla said firmly.
"We don't know they are trapped here. It may be their home." John replied evasively.
Teyla frowned at him. "This doesn't look much like a home."
"In your opinion. On my world we have people called hermits. They live like this," he waved into the cave, "on purpose because they don't want to be bothered by other people. They get upset if you approach them."
Teyla glared at him and turned back toward Ronon and McKay.
"Hey," McKay called out when they got closer. "Food locker." He pointed to the chest. Two compartments. Quite ingenious. Dried meat in one; dried fruit in the other. And get this," he reached into the chest and held up three battered utensils, "sporks."
"Sporks?" Teyla queried, confused. She thought she knew the Earth language well by now, but she had never heard of sporks.
"A combination spoon and fork." Sheppard informed her abstractedly. "Those are metal. How could someone on a primitive world like this have something like that?"
"Good question." Rodney replied, having no more clue than the others.
"Fire's still hot; coals covered to keep them alive through the day." Ronon informed them.
They all looked at Sheppard. "Any other caves nearby?" He asked McKay.
McKay shook his head. "Not any big enough for all of us."
Sheppard grimaced. "Then we have no choice. We stay here and apologize nicely for the intrusion when the owner shows up."
"We should search for them." Teyla continued her argument.
"No, we shouldn't." Sheppard held up his hand to silence her and she snapped her mouth shut. "Look, Teyla they apparently have been here for awhile. They most likely know we are here and we most likely won't see any sign of them unless they want us to."
"I could track them." Ronon said slightly offended.
"I'm sure you could, Big Guy and they could lead you right into the hunting grounds of those huge dinosaurs. We stay here."
"Surely, we can go back by now." Ronon groused, turning away from the entrance. He had been studying the vegetation noticing that the vines and greenery had been woven together forming a barrier a little less flimsy than the vines would have naturally been. Crudely carved wooden stakes at the corners of the opening would let someone peg down the woven greenery keeping out the merely curious. Whoever this person was they had survived this world for many years.
"Don't think so." McKay retorted superiorly.
"They can't still be eating." Ronon replied edgily. He hated waiting; enforced inaction didn't sit well with him and his leg hurt.
"No but their mates or buddies or little ones or just scavengers cleaning up after their leavings can be, but don't let me stop you from being an idiot." McKay replied sharply.
All three of his team mates looked at him with varying degrees of surprise and aggravation. Not that he didn't have a wickedly sharp tongue and felt free to use it whenever he wished, but he just didn't usually use it on Ronon.
Ronon rose swiftly stalking over to loom over Rodney. Rodney backed up a step. "I'm going to go scout." Ronon snarled and stormed out of the cave.
"Are you okay, Rodney?" Teyla asked a couple of hours later seriously concerned noticing for the first time the pallor and slight shakiness he was evincing.
"We've nearly been trampled by stampeding triceratops, nearly killed twice by meat-eating dinosaurs, ran for our lives twice, spent the night in a giant tree, have made a two hour forced march in high heat and humidity, are cut off from the Gate, have at least one unknown cave person on the loose, we are hiding in a very small dark cave and I've pissed off Ronon. No," he snapped looking up at her, "I'm not okay!"
He jumped up and headed for the cave entrance for fresh air and to relieve the claustrophobic feeling that had been increasing the longer he remained deep in the cave. His team remained silent giving him space to calm down and get a hold of himself.
Stomach growling, walls closing in, stale air of course he wasn't alright. And Ronon the Barbarian wanted to turn around ten minutes after they got here and head back. Okay, maybe it had been longer than ten minutes, but he was still recovering from the sheer terror from earlier. He couldn't believe he had snapped at Ronon that way! He knew Ronon would take it and give him that stoic glare in front of others, but later, later he'd make Rodney feel guilty for taking it out on him.
The area in front of him moved sickeningly; rushing in and then falling dizzyingly away and swirling in huge circles. Oh no! Nonononono, he would not fa…pass out. Not here; not now!
When they heard the dull thump of his body hitting the cave floor they raced toward him, weapons sweeping the area. Teyla remained on guard as they reached him while Sheppard knelt at his side.
"McKay?" He quickly scanned him for injuries. He didn't seem to have been hit by anything. "Rodney?" He rolled him over on his back eyes taking in the sheen of sweat, the pallor, the twitchy hands.
"Hypoglycemic ass," he muttered. "Why didn't you say you needed to eat?" He pulled out the small vial of sugar water Carson had gave him when he expressed concern about what to do if Rodney passed out from his condition. They couldn't force food down his unconscious throat so Carson had given them each a double insulated vial of sugar water. He would automatically swallow the liquid and the sugar should be enough to get him conscious so they could get food into him.
He pulled out the stopper, slid his hand under Rodney's head and tilted it up slightly and slowly, gently poured the liquid into his mouth. Rodney coughed a little, but swallowed. Encouraged, Sheppard poured a little more in and muttered, "That's it buddy, get some sugar into your system."
Five agonizingly slow minutes passed before Rodney's eyes fluttered open then sank shut again with a faint moan. "Swallow the rest." Sheppard urged tipping the vial and letting the remainder of the sugar water slide into Rodney's mouth.
His throat worked convulsively as he swallowed. "What're you pouring down my throat, Sheppard?" he groused, licking his lips and smacking his mouth. "Argh! It's gross!" He struggled to sit up.
Sheppard supported him; helping him sit up and moving slightly behind him to brace his back. "You passed out cold, McKay. When was the last time you ate?"
"Power bar this morning and when we got here." Rodney slurred.
Sheppard sighed and glanced at Teyla. "And yesterday?"
"Huh? I ate yesterday! Power bars, MREs." Rodney rubbed his head. "Maybe not enough with all the running for our lives and giant tree climbing that we did." He admitted grudgingly.
Without a word two power bars landed in his lap. He looked up startled and was, as always, surprised to see concern and genuine worry in their eyes. He looked back down at the power bars. His favorite peanut butter and chocolate.
"Just eat, McKay." Sheppard replied curtly, hiding the intense panic he always felt when his best friend pulled a stunt like this.
Rodney unwrapped one bar and pretty much inhaled it. Sheppard helped him move over to the cave wall before he opened the second one. Teyla brought over a water container and watched worriedly until he drank deeply then she and Sheppard finished it off.
He had stopped twitching by the time Ronon reappeared. He had some small animal already skinned and gutted. He strode past Rodney without a glance.
"Teyla, could you get the fire going?" He snatched up the second water container and drank, long and deep.
"Of course," she replied quietly. She added small twigs to the fire ring tucking some tinder she had found under them next to the hot coals. When the twigs caught fire she added a couple of logs.
Meanwhile, Ronon threaded chunks of meat onto a long skewer. When Teyla nodded, he handed her one end and they balanced the skewer on the crossed branches on either side of the pit.
Soon the smell of roasting meat filled the cave. "Umm, Ronon what is that?" Sheppard asked.
"Don't ask. Just eat. We need protein." He cast a subtle look at Rodney who hadn't moved from his seat against the wall. He knew that if McKay was snapping at him then he was definitely needing to eat because he wasn't usually that stupid.
As soon as the meat was done, Ronon pushed the hot morsels off the spit into the empty water container and handed them to Teyla then he proceeded to spear more of the meat and placed it over the fire.
Teyla took the meat over to Rodney who just looked at it distrustfully. "No, that's okay. You and Sheppard go ahead."
"Rodney…."
"No, please, just…no."
Teyla frowned, but went over and sat near Sheppard who was sitting near the entrance where he could look out past the covering.
Silently and at first cautiously they ate. After the first bite of surprisingly delicious piece they nearly groaned as they quickly polished off the remains.
Teyla returned the container to Ronon and went to sit opposite Sheppard and watched with him. Ronon cooked up the rest of the meat then he moved quietly over to Rodney placing the container between them. He sat there without a word or a glance, just eating.
Before long McKay sighed and started eating as well mumbling about alien parasites and unsanitary food preparation. Ronon chuckled and bumped his shoulder lightly against Rodney's. Rodney threw him a tiny, fleeting smile and leaned his head back against the wall, eyes shut.
A movement caught Sheppard's attention across the small glade. "Company." He said softly.
Teyla shifted her view point just in time to see a lithe shadow disappear into the brush. They stared in silence for a moment then Sheppard slowly asked, "Was that a girl?"
"I think so." Teyla replied hesitantly scowling into the foliage.
McKay looked around the cave and then at his friends. "What's a young girl doing on a world like this alone?"
"That is what I'd like to know." Sheppard responded in a hard voice that they all had come to recognize as 'I'm not leaving until I find out.'
"I'll see if she left tracks." Ronon said in a resigned voice and cautiously headed toward the spot the girl had been standing.
Rodney was feeling stable and guilty by the time Ronon returned a short time later. His face a mixture of contempt and distress. It took him only a few minutes to share the reasons for both.
"She wasn't hard to track. She made no attempt to hide her trail. Doubt she knows how. Her trail lead off to the left and then further into the hills behind the cave. She left this." He held out a small leather pouch full of berries. "We have to find her, Sheppard."
Sheppard and McKay gave him a look of unbelief. "What?" "Why?" "All we have to do is get out of here in one piece, Ronon."
Ronon shook his head, mind made up. "You don't get it. Her tracks are everywhere some very, very old and faint." He met Sheppard's gaze. "No others anywhere and I looked. She's young and she's alone and has been probably for years."
"Alright. We search for her, but I doubt we catch her if she doesn't want to be caught. She knows this world and how to hide or she wouldn't still be alive."
"You know this means we'll be here all night." McKay stated matter-of-factly. Three blank faces looked over at him. He threw his hands in the air. "We got to the gate mid-morning spent an hour or so waiting, another hour or so getting here that would be lunch time-ish." He held up four fingers up. "We've been in this cave a couple of hours. If, if we eat and headed back toward the Gate - another two hours to get there. It would be six, seven o'clock. All goes well we're back in Atlantis for dinner. We go after this wild girl and it will be dark before we get anywhere near the Gate and I for one would not recommend trekking out in the unknown," he pointed outside, "after dark."
"Perhaps, if the dark is so dangerous here, she will return to the cave."
Teyla suggested.
"Not if we're here."
"But if she thinks we have left." Teyla smiled deviously.
"Maybe." Ronon said thoughtfully. "We track her awhile and then act like we give up and leave. Head toward the Gate and then circle back here. We trap her in the cave."
"Sounds like a plan." Sheppard replied.
They gathered their packs and followed Ronon out of the cave. "She was there." He pointed to some giant ferns and some type of flowering plants. "When she saw us watching her she bolted that way he pointed to the left. "Made a wide arc and ended up on the other side of this hill." He pointed toward the hill the cave was in. "I came back straight over the hill. Saves time."
"Let's go." Sheppard started up the hill. Ronon walked beside him until they reached the top. There they stopped and waited for Teyla and McKay to catch up to them. McKay climbed grabbing the saplings to help maintain his balance. They were all glad to see his hands had quit shaking and he had color back in his face.
Ronon pointed off to his right. "I never saw it, but I heard a waterfall in that direction. I also saw animal tracks, cloven hoof , grazers."
McKay reached the top and breathed deeply, catching his breath before pulling out the life signs detector. "Not much use in pinpointing the girl, but I can tell you nothing is hiding anywhere near us. We should at least get to the bottom of the hill without becoming dinner."
He started down and the others hurried to get themselves in front of and beside him. He chuckled a little. Five years in the field; five years of training and they still surrounded him like it was his first day with them. He didn't complain though since after five years of training he wasn't anywhere near their league. He did take perverse fun out of watching them scramble when he just took off like that though.
The landscape began changing. The trees were downright sparse now and vegetation was low growing and spread out looking more like a modern day forest except for the sheer size of the trees. Many of the tree trunks split low, like oak trees, the branches curving downward some of them barely clearing the ground. The trees were still fairly tall, but looked easier to climb with the multi-branching trucks and branches.
The land leveled out after a couple more little rolling hillocks becoming a large savannah interspersed with oak trees and pine trees and magnolias. His mind automatically tagging them Earth equivalent names even though he knew they weren't exactly that. Scraggly brush and palmetto type bushes dotted the expanse. A shimmering ribbon of water sparkled in the distance.
McKay squinted at the animals that were browsing on the savannah. They were some distance away, but he thought, yes, brachiosaurus herds. He pulled out his binoculars staring intently at what had to be stegosaurus herds. Interspersed were herds of small deer-like animals grazing in the relative safety of the huge animals shadows.
"McKay, would you like to rejoin the field trip?" Sheppard asked sarcastically.
"In a minute," McKay muttered absently. "Amazing, absolutely amazing." He heard put upon sighs and lowered his binoculars. "You don't find them…awe inspiring?"
"Find what awe-inspiring?" Ronon asked indifferently.
"Brachiosaurus. Up to eighty-two feet long and fifty-two feet tall. Fifty-two! Even Rex won't attack them unless they are old and decrepit."
"Long-necks?" Sheppard's eyes lit up and he hurried back up the slope pulling out his own binoculars. "Wow. They are so cool. And stegosaurus!" He and Rodney shared goofy grins before offering binoculars to Teyla and Ronon.
"They are impressive." Teyla said jerking the binoculars out of John's reach so she could continue to watch them.
"Yeah, cool." Ronon handed the binoculars back to McKay after a long moment. "Girl, predators, nightfall."
"Oh, yeah, right." Sheppard and McKay put the binoculars away and started down the hill.
They tracked her for over an hour sometimes Ronon would pretend to lose her trail only to finally 'find' it again just in case she was watching them. Eventually, he growled in frustration. "Might as well head back now if we want to be gone before dark."
"What about the girl?" Sheppard asked. "We just leave her here?"
"Lost the track." Ronon shrugged. He had. The track seemed to disappear. He had no doubt he could find it again, but it would be dark soon and even he felt edgy about being out in the open here after dark.
"I agree, Colonel Sheppard," Teyla added her support to Ronon. "We should head back. I for one will be glad to get a shower and a decent meal."
"Fine, but I don't like it."
"Sheppard," Ronon stopped on the hillside and knelt looking at something on the ground.
Sheppard moved to his side. Ronon pointed at tracks pressed into the soft soil. "Looks like a large feline." He looked at Sheppard and McKay questioningly. It sometimes amazed him how much diverse things these two men knew.
They both looked confused. "Miniature deer and now felines? There were no mammals during the dinosaur age." Sheppard said accusingly glaring at Rodney.
"What? This is my fault somehow?" He responded bewildered at the glare.
"Yes, Rodney. Mixed up Earth eras on an alien planet are somehow your fault."
"Well, quit glaring at me then!"
Teyla sighed. "Whether or not it should be here apparently it is. Do either of you know what it could be?"
John and Rodney stared at other possibilities flickering across their faces until finally Rodney offered, "Saber-tooth?"
"That's the only ancient feline I can come up with." Sheppard agreed. "This throws open a whole new list of possible dangers." He growled.
"Saber-tooth tigers, giant apes, wolverines, bears, prehistoric wolves…" McKay's voice trailed off as he stared into the shadows.
"Let's go." Sheppard commanded, fear actually flickering through his usually impassive eyes. "And look for defensive positions."
Ronon and Teyla nodded and McKay swallowed hard. There position was tenuous if Sheppard was showing fear and Ronon wasn't sneering at it. So, right, defensive positions from Tyrannosaurus Rex and Saber-tooth tigers. He sighed, only in the Pegasus Galaxy.
They slowly tramped back toward the hills. Ronon was actually limping a little Teyla noticed and made a note to check his leg even if he argued.
They didn't go near the cave, but scanned it with the detector on their way back to the Gate. No one there. Thirty minutes later they put their wilderness training to good use and ghosted back toward the cave. They stopped a good distance from the cave and hunkered down against a tree that had several logs around it to give some protection.
Then they waited. And waited. And waited relying on the life signs detector to tell them when she returned to the cave. They could smell the cooked meat. Their mouths watered at the smell. She didn't return.
It was getting dark and everyone was beginning to get nervous. If she didn't show up soon they would have to return to the cave for their own protection. It was full dark before Sheppard finally gave the order to return to the cave for the night.
"She was here." McKay stated in disgust. "She was here while we were tramping around tracking her."
"What makes you think that?" Sheppard asked dubiously.
McKay shook his head. "I left a power bar there." He pointed to the chest. "It's gone and so is the rest of the meat."
Ronon, Teyla, and Sheppard traded glances. She had outsmarted them and took their dinner. Sheppard sighed. "McKay and I'll take first watch."
Ronon and Teyla nodded. "I wish to check your injury." Teyla said standing in front of Ronon with the first aid kit in hand.
"I'm fine." He moved to the bed of ferns.
"You're limping." Teyla replied calmly kneeling in front of him and tugging his pant leg up. He frowned, but made no move to stop her. It really did hurt.
Teyla frowned at the irritated looking wound. "Take these," she shook two aspirin out of a bottle and handed them to him. He swallowed them dry and waited for them to take effect as she doused another cotton pad with antiseptic and dabbed his leg in fire.
"Argghh!" He clenched his teeth aware that Sheppard and McKay were now watching, concern written on their faces.
Teyla glanced over at them. "It is irritated, but not infected yet. I think he will be fine if we get back to Atlantis tomorrow."
Silently, they ate the last of the MREs heated next to the fire so they were a little better than usual and then they ate the berries she had left them then Teyla lay down next to Ronon on the primitive bed and both were asleep within minutes.
"I still don't know how they do that." McKay muttered.
"Me neither." Sheppard admitted. "That's why I take first watch. It'd be time for me to stand watch before I'd get to sleep."