A Little Dismay
Outside of Galaz
"Major, we are coming up on the turn toward the farm; it should just be about another twenty minutes before we get there." Persim was sitting in the front of the transport with the driver Orthan Mizen, who owned the farm.
From the back of the transport, Lorne acknowledged Persim and looked at Ronon, Teyla, Rodney and Dr. Beckett who were riding with him along the other members of his team. There were four other transports behind them carrying the rest of the Atlantis contingent and as many Tegerans that could fit into the vehicles.
"If 'redhead' was telling the truth, we should be less than a half-hour behind Ferish and his men. It wasn't lucky for Orthan," Lorne pointed to the driver, "and his wife that they were held hostage, her father is an assemblyman, but it was lucky for us. Having such detail about the house and the surrounding area will really help."
McKay was antsy, "If they haven't killed them before we get there. Can't you make this thing go any faster?"
"Dr. McKay, we can't go any faster, these roads are narrow and these transports aren't built for speed; we are going to get there as soon as we can. Remember, this is Colonel Sheppard we're talking about; he has an uncanny ability to find a way out of some nasty stuff." Lorne smiled slightly at the doctor but that didn't satisfy McKay; he wanted to know for certain that Sheppard was OK.
Farmhouse
Ferish Bernin was normally a very, controlled man. As a member of the Genii military, he learned to control his emotions, an expected and valued trait on Genii. Under Kolya's command, he had honed that skill by following his mentor's behavior; the only time he had ever seen Kolya lose control was when he had dealings with Colonel John Sheppard. Ferish was beginning to understand.
Ferish and his elite team had arrived at the farmhouse moments before to find all three of his people dead; their prisoners gone. Mosston was one of his most trusted recruits, a mercenary from Cestia who had a reputation for killing over 200 people; all of course for hire. Mosston had jumped at the chance to join Ferish; he had seen through the "rebellion" dogma. He knew that Ferish had bigger plans that he wanted to be part of but now he lay dead on the floor of a farmhouse in the middle of nowhere; dead at the hands of Colonel John Sheppard. Sheppard would pay.
One of his personal guards came up from the cellar, "Ferish, I can't find the knife that he used to kill Pava and Fracie or the bigger knife that killed Mosston, so he must have taken them with him. We haven't found their weapons or those vest things either, so they must have them as well."
"So you are telling me that they are armed and we don't have an idea where they are but they have killed three of my men." He turned to the guard, rage evident on his face, "We will find them and Sheppard will pay for this."
He assembled his guards, "They did not take the transport so they had to have left the farmhouse on foot. There are woods close by to the east and about a half-mile to the southwest; they most likely headed for one of those areas." Pointing to one group of his men, "I want you four to head to the southwest and you four are with me, we will search the east woods. Just remember this; these men are very cunning, so watch yourselves and do not forget, no one kills Sheppard but me."
The Woods
Another half-hour had passed and Sheppard had changed direction a couple of times, telling Woolsey that he hoped to confuse Ferish and his men; Sheppard knew they would come for them and was concerned how far behind them Ferish might actually be. At one point, they had come upon a swiftly moving stream and Sheppard led them across it. Woolsey was nervous about the current until he saw that the stream was shallow. Sheppard had them step out onto the bank at one point, walk a few feet to the leafy underbrush, then backup into the stream using the tracks they made. They had then followed the stream for a while longer and exited along a rocky shore, walking into the woods again. The colonel was hoping the tactic would throw Ferish off and send him searching for them in the wrong direction.
Every now and then when the trees would thin out a bit, they could see farmland in the distance. Sheppard wasn't very happy about being so close to the edge of the woods but he thought that the tree line must be meandering along the top of the low ridge that they were traveling on.
Woolsey was tired and if he was tired, he knew the colonel had to be as well. He was about to request another rest period when the colonel raised his fist which Woolsey had learned meant stop walking.
"Colonel?" Sheppard turned his profile to Woolsey and put his fingers to his lips. Woolsey thought, I do know what that means. Sheppard then motioned for Woolsey to get down or at least he thought that was what the colonel meant.
As he dropped to his knee, Sheppard did the same turning his head enough this time to look at Woolsey. His voice very low, his breathing still fractured, "There is a small wood hut ahead, could be for hunting or shelter during storms; too small to be a house. You stay here, if anything happens or there is anyone in that hut, you go that way, fast," pointing to the southeast which would take Woolsey deeper into the woods. "You stay out of sight, eventually Atlantis will find you. I am going to check out that hut." He took a ragged breath. "We might be able to stay there at least until daylight. I'll be back." He handed Woolsey the canteen, unclipped his P-90, and quietly moved off.
Woolsey watched as the colonel shifted from tree to tree until he was even with the windowless left side of the hut. Moving with more ease than he should have been able to, Sheppard reached the side of the hut and edged around the corner. He reached for the latch on the door and gently pulled it back and waited; Woolsey was holding his breath. After a few seconds and no indication that anyone was inside, Sheppard opened the door and swept the small space. Stepping into the hut, he was out of Woolsey's sight until he reappeared at the door and motioned for director to come to the hut; Woolsey ran as fast as his battered body would allow him to join the colonel.
As Woolsey slid past the colonel to enter the hut, he didn't notice Sheppard pressing something against the outside of the door near the handle; Sheppard then closed the door and set the interior locks. He turned to Woolsey; "Well, this isn't exactly what we expected."
The Farmhouse
The transports carrying the Atlantis team and the Tegerans halted about one-half mile from the farmhouse; Lorne ordered Captain Waters and Lieutenant Bonner's team to go scout the property. Shortly, Waters' reported that the house appeared deserted; Lorne and Ronon took point, and the remaining rescue team headed for the farmhouse.
Dr. McKay was in charge of the scanner and he began to sweep the area, "Lorne, there are five men headed east from the farmhouse and four headed southwest. They aren't that far from the house."
"No way to tell if any of them are the colonel or Mr. Woolsey?"
McKay shook his head, "No, no way."
"OK…let's check out this house."
Two teams went in and cleared the house and reported back to Major Lorne. "Sir, Colonel Sheppard and Mr. Woolsey are not in the house; however, we found three dead men, all wearing brown clothing similar to what we have seen on the rebels, sir. My men are moving the bodies into the back yard."
"Thank you, captain. Major Teldy, take Stackhouse, and Isaacs' teams with you, follow the men going east; Captain Waters, take Bonner and Carlisle's teams and follow the men to the southwest. Persim, Ozem, divide your men and send a group with each team but keep a few here to watch the house. Everyone, do not engage unless you find the colonel and Mr. Woolsey and they are in danger. We are going to check out the house and will follow along shortly. Stay in radio contact." Major Teldy and Captain Waters acknowledged the orders and left with their teams; Ozem's Tegeran teams followed after leaving Orthan and three security guards at the farmhouse. Colonel Sheppard's team, Dr. Beckett, and Persim followed the major into the house; the remainder of Lorne's team stayed outside.
"What in bloody hell is this? There is blood all around this chair, on the wall; splatter from blood all over. What did these damn brutes do to them?" Dr. Beckett was incensed at the amount of blood around the chair.
Lorne had been quiet since he walked in the room, "They were beaten doctor; worked over pretty good from the looks of it." The major was angry but he knew better than to allow his personal feeling cloud how he did his duty. He owed his life to his CO and he was going to bring him home; hopefully, in one piece.
Ronon walked over to the chair and put his hand on the bloody ropes that had been used to most likely tie Sheppard and Woolsey while they were being beaten. "I told Ferish I would kill him if they die; I think I'll kill him anyway just for this." Lorne didn't miss how calm and quiet Ronon's voice was; he knew that was a clear indication of just how serious Ronon was.
Persim was quiet; the pain of what had happened here to men they had invited to Tegeran was crushing. The Tegerans were a better people than this; he would have to make certain that they atoned for their behavior.
Teyla had spotted the wooden rod and gone over to pick it up, "Dr. Beckett, there is blood on this stick."
Beckett took the rod from Teyla, "This is made of a very hard wood; if they used this to hit them, it could have done serious damage."
They walked into the dining room and saw the blood that had drained from Mosston and did a quick look around the cellar noting the blood evidence of Pava and Fracie's deaths. Beckett walked up to the low bench that Sheppard had laid on, "These sacks have been placed here like one of them was using them to keep the other warm; there is even a few folded to use as a pillow." Pointing to a pile of them on the floor, "These were probably used to cover whoever was laying here. I am worried that one of them is badly injured and I have no doubts which one it is. I'll bet the colonel has taken the brunt of the beatings to protect Woolsey."
Lorne patted the doctor on the shoulder, "Don't jump to conclusion yet, doc. Three men died here and I am certain that Sheppard and Woolsey had everything to do with it. The fact that our guys aren't here, pretty much tells me that they are well enough to manage their own escape and get away from here. That can't be all bad."
"I suppose you're right, lad but I'd be happier if we knew they are OK."
"Dr, Beckett, we would all be happy if we knew that." Teyla smiled at the doctor.
"OK, we need to get out of here and catch up with the teams." Lorne led them out of the cellar and out the back door.
"Major, Teyla," they looked over at Persim, "I am going back to the city; I believe that I need to speak to the Assembly regarding these events and what we have done to the people of Atlantis. You were only here to help us and we betrayed you. We must find a way to make this up to you and to ourselves."
Teyla started to speak but Persim stopped her, "There will be time to talk later; you need to find the colonel and Mr. Woolsey. I will take a transport back to town but will have it returned. If we do not hear from you by daybreak, I will have many more people here to help look. Is there anything else that I could do for you?"
"Could you dial Atlantis and let them know what is happening? We don't need any help at the moment but Dr. Zelenka is in charge of Atlantis and I know that they will want to be updated. They are no doubt worried about all of us."
"I will be more than happy to contact Atlantis for you. I will also send food back with the transport so that once you have found them and return here, there will be food for the team."
Lorne nodded and Teyla placed her hand on Persim's shoulder. "Please, do not blame yourself; these rebels have created this problem and together we will solve it."
"Thank you and good luck." Persim left.
Lorne looked Ronon, "So, which direction do you think Sheppard would take?"
Ronon didn't answer right away; he had walked over to a fence post where something had caught his eye. When he got closer and could see the object better, he laughed out loud. "This way, Sheppard has gone east."
"You seem pretty sure about that, Ronon." Lorne remarked.
"Yeah, I am."
Lorne tapped his COM, "Waters, we think the colonel and Woolsey have gone east, when you catch up with the four thugs you're chasing, capture them or finish them, whatever you have to do. Teldy, we will be catching up with you shortly. Lorne out."
As he heard his team leaders acknowledge his message, Lorne turned to Ronon and Teyla, "OK, you two are our trackers; let's find them." They headed into the dark night, Ronon leading the way.
The Hut
Sheppard and Woolsey stood in the small hut, a space of only about eight feet by eight feet, and really didn't know what to think. From the outside the building looked like a small rustic hut made of rough lumber; the roof made of metal. Inside was a different story; the hut was lined with a very strong metal on the walls and floor and ceiling; there were a cot sitting against each of the side walls and huge storage bins on the other full wall. The wall with the door and small window had a low cabinet which had a lock on it. The glass in the window looked to be about four inches thick and was remarkably optically clear for such thick glass.
"Colonel, what the hell is all of this?" Woolsey looked really confused.
Sheppard put his P-90 down on one of the cots and then sat down very slowly; he waited for a second to answer as he let his breathing slow down. "I think this must be an outpost, Isaacs was telling us about them on the way to the Assembly Hall when we first arrived in the city; I guess you were too far back to hear him. The Tegerans hid from the Wraith in old tunnels that dated from some civil war hundreds of years ago." He shifted back on the cot until his back reached the wall and he relaxed a bit, "Isaacs was told that the Wraith couldn't detect the Tegerans when they were in the tunnels so that didn't get culled very often or cull many when they did. He said there were some sort of outposts scattered around the country but he didn't find out what these outposts were for."
Woolsey had walked the short distance to the bins and was beginning to rummage though them, "Colonel, there are can goods, dry foods, bottles of water, blankets, even some bandages and medicines in these bins. I presume this must be a place for people to get supplies if they are cut off from their homes during a culling or maybe like you said earlier, in case of bad weather."
"Well, whatever it is, get some of those blankets out, lie down on that very comfortable cot, well it might not be real comfortable but better than we have had in a while, and get from rest. I'll take the first watch."
"No, colonel, you will rest. I need you to be as strong as you can be if we have to face Ferish. I will take the first watch." When Sheppard started to protest, Woolsey simply said, "That's an order, colonel." He handed the colonel a couple of blankets and helped him lie down on the cot; once he had placed the blankets over Sheppard, he walked over to the small window to keep watch.
The Woods
Ferish was resolute; he was going to kill Sheppard. He had never wanted to kill anyone more than he did the Atlantis military leader. At first, he had wanted Sheppard to suffer a long, drawn-out death but now, he just wanted the bastard dead.
"Ferish, I have tracks leading directly into a stream just up ahead," one of his men yelled.
"Well, follow them, you fools," Ferish yelled back. He watched as the men with him headed for the stream; if they didn't find Sheppard, he'd kill them all.
The Woods
"Ronon, are you sure you know where you are going?" McKay was a few steps behind him, "I mean you've changed direction a couple of times. How do you know this is the path?"
"I know, McKay; don't worry."
"Yeah, me not worry; not going to happen."
Teyla held Rodney back, "Be patient, doctor, Ronon is an expert tracker. I also believe that he knows something we don't."
"What do you mean, knows something, what could he know that we don't?"
"I am not certain but he seems very positive that he knows the direction that John and Mr. Woolsey have taken."
Ronon walked toward Teyla, McKay, Lorne, Teldy, and Beckett, "We are not far behind Ferish; there is a stream ahead and at least 7 sets of footprints, all leading into the stream. Best I can tell, Ferish and his men number five; so the other two sets could be Sheppard and Woolsey."
Lorne called Lt. Stackhouse over, "Lieutenant, I need for you to do some recon; take your team and go up stream a bit before you cross over; locate Ferish and his team and report back. They crossed the stream, uh, where Ronon?"
He pointed due east, "There."
"Go." Lorne ordered; Lt. Stackhouse and his team quickly headed toward the stream.
"The good thing is that our guys can probably move quicker than Ferish's men can because of the night vision goggles. They should be able to catch up to those bastards and report back to us quickly."
"While you are waiting for word, I am going to scout a bit." Ronon told Lorne who nodded and told him to make it quick.
McKay had been standing nervously in the background demanded, "How the hell are we going to find Sheppard if we are just standing here?" Dr. Beckett walked over to Rodney and put a hand on his shoulder, hoping to calm him down. Rodney jerked away from Beckett; he was not going to be placated, he wanted answers.
Lorne took a deep breath, "Dr. McKay, we are going to find them, we just need some intel so that we have a better idea what we are up against. We can't help the colonel and Woolsey if we are flying blind. This isn't going to take long and we will be moving again, I promise."
McKay turned to Beckett and apologized, "I'm sorry, I just can't stand here and do nothing. We have to find them."
"It's OK, Rodney; all of us are worried but we need to trust Major Lorne, Colonel Sheppard does." Rodney nodded; he knew Beckett was right, they could trust Lorne.
A few more minutes passed before they heard Lt. Stackhouse's voice over their COM's, "Major, we have flanked the rebels, there are five of them; our people are not with them. They're armed with Genii pistols, a couple of them are carrying rifle-like weapons, and we did count a fair amount of knives."
Just as Lorne started to answer Stackhouse, Ronon's voice interrupted, "Lorne, they're following a false trail that Sheppard left, I have two sets of footprints coming out of the stream about 100 yards beyond the first prints, heading due south. I'm positive these tracks belong to Sheppard and Woolsey; got a clean mud print, looks like USAF military tread."
"Understood, Ronon. Stackhouse, stay on those guys; they most likely won't be fooled for long; keep us informed of their progress, if you get into trouble, three clicks on the radio and we'll find you."
"Understood, major; Stackhouse out."
"Let's go join Ronon and find our people. Isaacs, split your team, I want guys on each side of the stream until we reach Ronon's location. Don't be complacent; Ferish may have more people in the area than the five Stackhouse reported. Move." A chorus of 'yes, sirs' resounded from the teams and the Atlantian's began walking toward the stream.
The Hut
Woolsey looked at his watch, it was almost 0200 hrs; close to twenty-four hours since they left Atlantis. He had climbed onto the cabinet under the window and taken a seat; he could still see out of the tiny window but sitting was certainly better than standing. At least, the night-vision goggles, which Sheppard had required to be standard equipment in the TAC vest, allowed him to see as far as the tree line. A couple of times he had almost awakened the colonel when he thought he saw something but he had waited just a few seconds longer than his panic level normally allowed and the movement turned out to be deer-like animals foraging. He relaxed and had to admit he was pretty proud of himself; he had overcome his panic at least a little bit. Then again, maybe he was just too tired to react.
Sheppard had been asleep for nearly a half-hour and Woolsey had noticed his breathing was less labored and more even; a nice soft cot mattress beat a cellar floor any day. He knew that he needed rest as well but he forced himself to stay awake; the more rest the colonel could get, the better the odds he would be able to get them out of this mess. Woolsey really hoped that Atlantis would find them before they had to face Ferish, which would be a good thing.
The Woods
They met up with Ronon and he led them out of the stream and into the direction he was certain Sheppard and Woolsey had taken. Lorne had Lt. Isaacs cross a bit further down stream and had Teldy's team fan off to the left; his team took the rear, Ronon and Teyla on point.
As they moved some distance away, Teyla asked. "Ronon, I realize that you are an excellent tracker, better than I am actually, but you seem unusually confident that we are taking the same path that John and Mr. Woolsey are taking. I would like to know why."
Ronon smiled, "Let's just say that one night after we had taken a long run around Atlantis, Sheppard and I sat out on the pier for a long time and talked; he kept asking me questions about how I learned to do the things I can do: hunt, track, shoot."
Teyla laughed, "I wouldn't mind knowing those things myself."
"We started talking about ways to leave a trail in case we got lost or were kidnapped; Sheppard had a silly idea, it was late, and we decided if one of us was ever in that situation, we would use his idea and see if it worked."
"So, he has left clues that only you know?"
"Maybe."
"Ronon, are you telling that you have found these clues?"
"I'll tell you once we find him."
"I will be expecting an explanation."
The Woods
Lt. Stackhouse's team had been trailing the five men for about forty-five minutes when Ferish stopped abruptly and starting yelling at the man who was on point.
"Keiter, I haven't seen tracks for the last mile; do you have a clue where they went?" He walked up to the man and grabbed him by the throat.
"It is difficult in the dark, I cannot see well enough to made out tracks; we should wait until daybreak, Ferish."
Ferish glared at Keiter for a few seconds and then backhanded him, knocking him onto the ground. "We are not waiting for daylight, I want Sheppard now!" Turning toward the others, Ferish continued, "We are not going in the right direction, Sheppard has fooled us; two injured men could not out distance us, he's left a false trail. Norat, you take the lead and find their tracks; we need to go south, look closer to the stream."
Stackhouse tapped his COM, "Major Lorne, Stackhouse; I can confirm Ferish is one of the men in this group. He has realized that the colonel left a false trail; they are turning south and taking a path closer to the stream. Will update in 10 minutes. Stackhouse out."
The major acknowledged his report but requested an update in five minutes. Lorne realized that every minute was going to count if Ferish was now heading in the direction they thought Sheppard had gone.