Part Three
John looked up to see thick fog roiling into the area. Glowing points of light populated the fog bringing a very faint buzzing noise with them. The spots of light reminded him of a slightly larger version of the glowy bugs on the planet near the Lagrange point weapons platform. They moved erratically in the haze, seeming to almost vibrate.
A tiny amount of tension drained out of him. The little bugs were hardly as scary as he'd imagined when Teyla warned of a swarm. Unfortunately, the growing lack of visibility wasn't preventing their attackers from continuing to shoot at them.
"No!" Ronon's voice sounded, and his form appeared as he ran out from cover and began shooting haphazardly toward the incoming blaster fire. As a battle plan in general, John couldn't praise it, but sometimes it was the combined strategy of crazy surprise attack that won the war.
One of Ronon's shots went wild and John felt sure the tree off to his left was going to be down a couple of branches, but something strange happened. The fog itself seemed to absorb the blaster shot before it could reach the tree. Ronon fired again, this time with better aim and the same thing happened. Six feet out from the weapon and its energy dissipated in a burst of glowy mist.
Ronon growled in frustration and fired even faster. But the frantic angry bursts were getting him nowhere, except maybe showing the bad guys exactly where to shoot.
Thankfully, judging by the distant flashes of light, the same thing was happening on the other side. Their shots weren't making it through either. Two bullets cut a trail through the fog and embedded themselves on the other side of John's log. Apparently someone on the other side had at least one Genii hand gun – and it was working just fine.
"It's the fog," Rodney said at his side. "It's absorbing the energy from the weapons."
That made sense to John. Projectiles weapons, good, energy weapons, bad. "Ronon! Catch!" He tossed his nine millimeter to the big guy.
Some of the attackers had broken cover and were moving in closer. John could see their forms moving at the far edge of visibility in the thick soup. They'd given up on the stunners, but not on the attack. He fired a warning shot in the direction of the motion.
"No! Stop!" Meltis moved out onto the path, directly in his line of fire. "Be calm! We must all be calm!" She bowed her head and wrapped one hand around the stone necklace and raised the other skyward. More incoming gunfire sounded and was answered by Ronon's increasingly sloppy aim.
"What? Does she have a death wish?" Rodney said from beside him. "She needs to get down."
"I know," John murmured. Ronon was really beginning to worry him, too.
"Ronon, buddy, ease off!" John yelled to his friend as he squinted into the fog in search of his other team mate. Ronon kept firing, but at least he managed to duck behind a tree every once and a while.
Something small and dark sailed through the fog headed straight for Meltis. It struck a glancing blow against her shoulder before tumbling to the ground and rolling several feet. It was a rock. And still she was standing there making a big shadowy target of herself.
"Meltis! Get down!" John yelled to the woman, hoping that at least one person would listen in this mess. Another Genii bullet cut through the fog and spilled shattered bits of bark and leaves above her head.
John swore then bounded over the log, diving toward the oblivious woman. John was certain he saw the bullet cut through the fog above them as they went down. They landed hard on the uneven surface.
Meltis barely acknowledged her close call. She just curled up tighter and continued to murmur something that sounded like Ancient. Exsisto pacix.
John's Ancient was a little rusty and he had a few other concerns at the moment. Like the fact that they needed to get to better cover. And where the hell was Teyla?
"Are you okay?" he asked the gray haired monk.
She opened her eyes and looked up at him. "It is calm," she said and smiled. The hand around the stone necklace loosened, revealing that the once dull slab was glowing a soothing blue. "We will be safe now."
John blinked. That was different. While he didn't know about safe, she was right about the calm. There was no more gunfire; all the sounds of fighting were gone. Ronon and Teyla were standing nearby, taking in the thinning mists around them. Rodney remained huddled, wide-eyed, behind the log. Their attackers were nowhere in sight.
John moved to his feet, and helped Meltis to hers, not entirely sure what had just happened.
"What the hell was that?" Rodney demanded as he climbed over the fallen log to join them. John wanted to know the answer to that question, too. But even more, he needed to know about the rest of his team. He left Rodney arguing with Meltis.
Ronon and Teyla stood a ways off the path. They turned confused looks on him as he approached. Teyla was still holding onto her P-90, while Ronon lifted the nine mil and frowned at it.
"You guys okay?" John asked softly. He didn't like the sluggish way they were moving. It was almost as if they had been drugged.
"What happened?" Ronon asked. His gaze settled on the empty holster at John's thigh before he extended the still warm nine mil to John.
"You don't remember." John's alarm grew. This wasn't good. Not good at all.
Ronon and Teyla looked at each other, then looked around at the still hazy forest. Faint remnants of the fog still remained. "Someone shot at us," Teyla said. John couldn't tell if she meant it as a question or a confirmation of a memory. But at least, she was beginning to look more alert.
"Hey." Ronon gestured to a spot over his shoulder. "What happened to the other guy?"
John looked around to the place where Tobar had fallen. The spot was empty. Tobar Mit was gone.
~!~
"He has gone? Where has he gone?" Meltis looked off toward Ronon, Sheppard and Teyla. Shock and surprise colored her previously placid features. The stone around her neck immediately lost its glow.
Rodney blinked. He'd had a suspicion that she wasn't really listening to him. Now he wished he'd been paying better attention himself. "Who's gone?" he asked, of no one it turned out as Meltis moved fast when she wanted to. He followed her and everyone else to the spot where the other monk must have been.
"He was right here." Meltis got down on the ground and started riffling about in the weeds. Her motions were frantic as she sifted through the dried debris, getting dirt and muck all over her hands.
"I don't think he's there now," Rodney said. It would be pretty hard to hide a body in that short grass, no matter how scrawny he was. She had to know what she was doing was a waste of time.
"You do not understand." She didn't slow her motions. "It is the focus stone. The swarm has come too soon. There will be much panic. We must have nine stones."
"You are hoping that he dropped it or left behind?" Teyla asked, gently.
Meltis looked up at Teyla and nodded. Obviously she was done scratching in the grass. "He would have known how important it was." She climbed dejectedly to her feet.
Wait a minute. Rodney's brain did a rewind. Had she just said nine? That meant that there were at least seven more that weren't missing … or whatever. Maybe he could –
"It's possible that the same people who were shooting at us are the same people who took your painting." Sheppard interrupted Rodney's train of thought. "Maybe they wanted to add a Sylan monk to their list."
"What makes you think they were shooting at us?" Meltis objected to Sheppard's pretty reasonable assertion. "I have never seen them before and the monks of Sylan have no enemies."
"Their first target was your associate, Tobar," Sheppard pointed out.
"That does not confirm that he was the target. He may have merely been caught in the crossfire or those who attacked may have had poor aim." Meltis obviously wasn't ready to give in to reason.
Sheppard cut his losses. "Why don't we figure out the intended target later? Right now we need to get moving in case they decide to come back."
"On that we can agree."
Another question occurred to Rodney. "Speaking of before they come back, why did they leave in the first place?" he asked as they began moving through the forest again. "I mean, I hate to be the bearer of bad news and what not, but they had us surrounded. If it wasn't for that freaky fog, we'd be toast."
"Yes," Sheppard agreed. "A very good question – one of the many on my list."
Meltis sighed heavily. "The Lady protects. She sent the Swarm early because she knew we would have need of its protection. We must hope that Tobar has gone to the village because he knows that his stone will be needed."
Rodney would have offered to find the guy with the LSD, but considering they didn't exactly show up on it, that solution was problematic. Asking questions to try to determine why the LSD didn't work would be ridiculous since he was dealing with a person who thought a hologram was providing them protection. So, he moved on to his next question.
"Why do you need nine stones?"
"To balance the Swarm. To become a Sylan monk, one must well know one's own mind, otherwise there can be no balance. That is the sacred purpose of the Sylan monastery. The Lady gives us the tools to succeed."
"Is that what you were doing when you were … saying those words?" Sheppard asked. "Looking for balance?"
"Yes." She eyed him oddly as if coming to a realization. "If you heard the words, then you were not affected by the Swarm. Are you one who carries Ancestor blood?"
Sheppard looked uncomfortable, like he really didn't want to answer that question. Rodney could understand that considering the number of times it had gotten him into trouble, so he decided to bail him out.
"We both do," he said, offering a proud grin. He ignored the rolled eyes of his team mates. What was there not to be proud of? This might net him one of those focus stone things to study.
Meltis looked thoughtful. "Perhaps we may learn something from you after all."
Rodney's grin grew larger.
~!~
Teyla's headache was a dull squeezing pressure at the back of her head. She had come to understand that she and Ronon were affected by swarm madness. The curious drowning sensation had passed, though she still had little memory of what had occurred after the fog arrived.
An echoing tone began. For several moments, she thought it to be a new symptom of her headache then she realized that it was the sound of a bell being struck. "Does that sound come from your village?"
"It is the alert that the Swarm is upon us." Meltis quickened her pace as they exited the forest and entered the meadow which stretched out before them before abutting the edges of the village. "They are being called to the safety of the monastery grounds. They were unprepared. We were to have several days at least before first sighting."
"What do you mean by first sighting?" Ronon asked. "There's gonna be more?"
Meltis continued to speak as they walked. "The Swarm comes in waves, like childbirth pains. Second sighting usually occurs within 2 hours of the first. Third sighting is within an hour of second and so on until the Grand Swarm occurs, which is continuous and lasts for many hours until it burns itself out."
"Will Ronon and I return to the state we entered during the previous swarm?" Teyla asked. She did not like the idea of being so out of control. The thought of losing more time was terrifying. "Is there no defense?"
"Thoughts of peace are the only defense."
"Seriously?" Rodney cut in abruptly. "The answer to swarm madness is to think good thoughts?"
"Rodney!" Teyla admonished him. It was wrong to belittle the ways and beliefs of others.
"It is much more than that." Meltis didn't seem offended by Rodney's tone. "The task is more difficult than the words. Only through thorough knowledge of one's own mind can a monk find the balance to protect the people."
"Are there any long term effects to the swarm?" Teyla broached the next question.
"If the Swarm goes unbalanced, often there remains some loss of the Swarm memory."
As they drew closer to the village, Teyla could see that there had been much activity. Discarded sacks and other debris were left lying in the hard packed dirt of the streets. She could almost feel the anxiety that must have gripped the population.
"It is as I feared." Meltis hurried toward the village where people remained, racing to gather last minute items. She was greeted with expressions of relief by all who saw her. Each time she urged them to continue on toward the monastery, while the team assisted in ensuring that none were left behind.
Once Meltis was satisfied that the village was empty, they continued on into a hilly area beyond the village. A path wound around the hill ending at a low stone wall. They followed the wall until they reached an opening.
Teyla could hear the voices of many people even before they passed through the opening and rounded an outcropping of rock. A wide open area became visible before them. There were people everywhere.
Groups of tunic-clad monks were surrounded by villagers asking frantic questions. Children were crying, and frazzled parents were trying to calm them. Carts brimming with food items and personal belongs were scattered haphazardly. Several of the monks broke away from one of the groups and joined them.
"Meltis! What has happened?" one of the younger of the monks asked.
"The swarm has come early," she informed him. "It was the will of the Lady. Has your uncle returned?"
The young monk shook his head. "Tobar? He has not. We have not seen him since he left with you."
Meltis lowered her head. "It is as I feared."
She looked over her shoulder toward the team. "You say you have come to help us. Let us see what it is that you can do."
~!~
John settled a little girl that they'd picked up in the village alongside her mother and told her to be a good girl, before he followed Meltis and the rest of the team through the crowds. They went past rows of red stone buildings, what looked like a blue cornfield and a stream.
Beyond the stream was another of those three foot high walls of stacked oval stones. The gray stones were mingled in with stones of a darker material. John shot a look toward Rodney when Meltis stopped at the wall. Rodney's raised brows were answer enough – the darker stones were Naquadah.
Beyond the wall was an orchard of flowering trees that reminded John of magnolias. The path through the trees was made of tiny white pebbles which led to the door of a multi-storied stone building.
"This inner wall leads to the Sanctuary. Only a full monk may invite outsiders. You are present as my guests. Leave all ill thoughts behind."
There was no conversation as they moved among the trees. Rodney was occupied taking readings. John figured he was on to something, though there wasn't anything visibly obvious.
The building itself didn't seem to be anything special, either. The entry was a large wooden door which was already standing open.
Meltis waved them into the large entry room. It was sparsely furnished with wooden tables and chairs. Doors and corridors led off the area at random intervals, while tapestries adorned the walls. Most were depictions of the swarm, a few were of the Ancient hologram lady. The other monks they passed simply went about their business as if strangers from off world visited their monastery every day.
"I'm picking up something," Rodney said into the silence.
Meltis turned on them. "One must not speak so loudly in the Sanctuary. The Lady does not require words above a whisper."
Rodney gave her a hard stare, then looked at Sheppard. "I'm picking up something," he said in a loud stage whisper. "It's coming from … there." He pointed toward a dark colored door on the far side of the room.
Meltis's eyes widened. "That is the door that does not open," she whispered.
John grimaced. How did he know it would be the door that didn't open?
"Is it wrong to go through the door, should it open?" Teyla asked.
Meltis shook her head. "I do not think so. But, I also do not think it will open. It has not opened in all the years of all the monks of Sylan."
Teyla looked toward John and he nodded. The question would be much better coming from her. So far all he'd managed to do with Meltis was argue. "May we try?" she asked.
Meltis gestured them toward the door.
It didn't appear to have any obvious handles or control panels. For all intents and purposes, it looked like a giant slab of black rock. John stopped Rodney just before he reached the door. "What kind of reading is it?" he asked.
"Ancient," Rodney responded.
"I'll go first," John said, then stepped closer to the smooth surface and thought open. He sensed the tickle of the ATA gene before the door slid slowly, grudgingly open. Nothing shot out at him and no alarms seemed to go off, so he stepped forward into what looked like any given lab on Atlantis.
Rodney followed behind him, a smug grin on his face. "Bingo."
In the thirty minutes it took for Meltis and the other seven monks on hand to get over the initial shock of what was behind the door that did not open, Rodney was busy figuring out exactly what the technology behind the door was doing.
"The time for the second wave is close. The eight of us who remain must attend to our look outs. We will have to hope in our Lady that the missing ninth stone does not cause an imbalance," Meltis and the monks behind her were all but wringing their hands.
"Exactly what is it that these stones do?" John asked. He hadn't gotten a straight answer yet, and wasn't holding out much hope.
"I can answer that," Rodney volunteered with a raised hand.
John glanced toward Meltis, who deferred to Rodney without complaint. Opening doors that did not open went a long way toward their credibility it seemed.
"Go ahead," he told Rodney.
"They send out a signal that on the monitor kinda looks like brain waves. They have a limited range, though, unless they are in the proper configuration." He brought up a diagram on his lap top. It was what had to be an older layout of the monastery grounds. None of the more rudimentary stone buildings were visible.
"These are your look out points – am I correct?" Rodney caused nine points spaced around the compound to illuminate. John recognized one of them as the outcropping they had passed when they first came into the main courtyard.
"You're correct," Meltis confirmed.
"Those are the perfect spots to allow for optimum attenuation of the signal throughout the monastery grounds. If one of the stones is missing, the signal coverage will not only be weaker, but there will be gaps."
"No. That is not good. If there are gaps, the madness could spread and we would not be able to control it."
"Are these signals somehow telepathic in nature?" Teyla asked.
Rodney shrugged. "It's possible. There are theories that telepathy is simply a matter of finding the right frequency."
Teyla nodded. John was sure she was on to something. She turned to the Sylan monk. "Meltis, do you concentrate on a specific emotion when you use your focus stone?"
"Yes." Meltis nodded. "We all do. We concentrate on peace and calm. It is what is needed."
Teyla's face spread into a wide grin. "That is how you counteract the swarm madness with thoughts of peace. You're surrounding the people with a telepathic message that is essentially telling them that all is well. It leaves them unaffected by the madness."
"What's the point?" Ronon asked, looking bored. "Why build this at all?"
"That's the $100,000 question," John said, then looked toward Rodney.
"I've only been here for 30 minutes," Rodney complained. "Besides, let me finish with my brilliant solution for this problem first."
"Okay, spill it," John said.
Rodney reached onto a shelf and produced a boxy looking device with a crystal jammed in one side of it. "I think this is the prototype for the focus stones. I'll need you to go to the ninth look out and activate it while I monitor it from here. Once it's up, it should allow the signal to transfer evenly around the monastery."
"You can truly do that?" Meltis looked in amazement at Rodney. "You can help us to balance the Swarm."
"We can do that." Rodney smiled proudly.
"I knew that the Lady would provide. She has sent you to rescue us."
John's grin grew as Rodney's sank. He grabbed the device from Rodney's hand. "We're running out of time here. Where do I need to go?"
"Which look out was ... er …?" Rodney looked around for help.
"Tobar's," John, Teyla and Meltis volunteered the name at the same time.
"Right," Rodney agreed. "Which look out was his?"
Meltis pointed to the spot on the map.
"You go there," Rodney told John.
"I'll go with you," Ronon said.
"No, Chewie. I need you to stay here." John turned his friend down.
"The rest of us must go to our places. I will send for Tobar's under monk. He will show you the way. We must hurry now."
John applauded the monk who led him to the look out. He was barely out of breath after setting a brutal pace up the side of a hill. But then, he was also probably half John's age.
"Thanks," John told him, pretending not to be winded. The monk merely nodded before gesturing him toward a half moon shaped area built into the rock. It was sheltered by a low roof. A stone bench and built in shelves were its only furnishings.
Deciding monks didn't exactly pass swarm time in high style, John tapped his radio. "Rodney, I'm here."
"It's about time," Rodney complained. "Activate the device."
John did as he was told. There was really no time and no point in arguing. "Activated."
"Good. I can see it. Find a place to put it where it won't get damaged." Rodney said..
John looked around the area then decided that maybe under the bench would be the safest bet. He tucked it underneath the seat. "How's that?" he asked. "You still reading?"
"Five by five," Rodney replied. "Your task is done, Colonel. And so is mine. I've figured out why the Ancient's built this thing. I can also tell you why the jumper was losing power and why this whole shooting match only pops up every five years or so."
"Really?" John was surprised. That was fast even for Rodney. "I take it that means you found a database."
"Why couldn't I be a genius who just figures these things out?" Rodney demanded.
"You are a genius who figures these things out," John told him. "With the help of the database." He ignored Rodney's choking disagreement. "And while you're brilliantly reading the database, maybe you can figure out what is going on with the Ancient hologram lady thing. See you when I get back." He signed off.
He turned to step out of the alcove and met up with a flash of brilliant red light. And then there was nothing.