Chapter Three
In the cave the team was beginning to realize that staying in there had not been the best idea. The cave was filling up with rainwater and was nearly waist deep. Radek shivered, worried about the rising water and concerned about the others but there was one other he was worried about. He let his thoughts go to what Elizabeth might be doing right now.
"Whose stupid idea was it to stay in here, huh Sheppard?" McKay kicked off again as his hunger was starting to nag at him.
The now very wet and very agitated Colonel shot back heatedly, "If you want to play it that way, who was the one who wanted to come here in the first place!"
No one replied for a while until the little voice spoke up from beside McKay.
"It was me," Radek admitted softly, "I thought the energy source would have been beneficial to City's shields and weapons. It was my idea and is my fault."
They all looked at the Czech scientist and saw how upset he was.
Teyla rested a hand on his soaked shirt and added, "It doesn't matter whose fault it was, we're all in this together and we have to keep going."
"Thank you," responded Radek gratefully, feeling his shoulders being relieved of some of the pressure.
Sheppard wrung out the corner of his jacket. "We can't stay in here. I'm going to see if the coast is clear."
"What do you mean – 'coast is clear'?" Rodney piped, "Don't tell me there are Wraith here."
Sheppard and Teyla exchanged glances.
Teyla took a step towards Rodney and explained, "I'm sorry, Dr McKay. I sensed them some time ago. I did not wish to alarm you."
McKay made a sweeping gesture with his arm, and stomped off through the water. Teyla watched him in concern. Sheppard growled in annoyance and sloshed his way towards the cave entrance.
Radek gulped. Wraith and water were some of his least favorite things. Now, he mused, he had quite a few favorite things...and he was beginning to miss them. His nice dry bed, his nice warm quarters, beautiful Elizabeth...
Shaking himself from his daydream, Radek instinctively followed Sheppard to the entrance of the cave. The rain crashed so heavily into the ground that they could barely see their hands in front of them. Their clothes drooped with saturation, soaking them to their bones. Teyla brought up the rear.
A blinking of light caught Radek's eye to the East of the cave. He stared hard at the spot. He wasn't sure he'd seen it, but then it happened again. He turned to the others. By the third time, Teyla also saw the blinking.
Seeing the knotting of her eyebrows, Radek called, "Over there. There's…something."
The blinking moved towards them. Teyla felt no coldness in her gut and could tell it was not the Wraith. She rested a hand on her gun uneasily, just as a flashing light and a loud booming split the air. Everything then went dark for them. Radek's last thoughts before he lost consciousness were of the night before when he was with Elizabeth.