A/N – this is a short chapter, so I thought I'd add it now. We get back to the action after this.

NEVER STOP MOVING
By TIPPER

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CHAPTER FOUR: FEELING THE WATERS SHIFT

It was a little over a month later when a very strange message was relayed to Atlantis via the Alpha Site, delivered by a tearful and concerned Doctor Simpson, saying she needed help. Elizabeth frowned, not sure what to make of the request, and encouraged the Site's chief scientist to come through as soon as she could.

A beat later, Simpson was through the wormhole from the Alpha Site, moving almost at a run. Her straight, long dark blond hair was clipped painfully tightly behind her head, as if forced back in a fit of fury, and bloodshot blue eyes locked on Elizabeth as the leader leaned over the balcony. An older dark-haired Athosian woman, whom Elizabeth knew to be called Dora, followed her.

"Doctor Simpson?" Elizabeth straightened up, worried by the grim faces both women wore. "What is it?"

"Someone has Connam," Simpson replied, and her arms shook a little at her sides. "We have to go and get him! Now!"

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The traveling Pegasus trader, Eric Connam, had been visiting the Alpha Site on and off quite a lot over the last year, always bringing his overburdened flatbed truck of goods, his massive Pegasus version of a draft horse, and a ready smile. Those amongst the expedition who did not go off-world on missions—which was most of them—looked forward to his visits with great excitement, lured by the promise of real otherworldly goods. They traded things they'd brought from Earth – binoculars, reading glasses, penlights, and anything else they could buy at the local convenience store – in return for clothes, weird technology that Connam had found, unusual stones for jewelry, and really any other curios he might have picked up on his travels.

Connam loved the Atlantians, not just for their extremely unique goods, but also because he had become absurdly fond of one particular Atlantian—Doctor Simpson. A fondness that was reciprocated by the very independent (but still a sucker for fresh picked daisies) scientist.

So, when he was late for his "anniversary" of the first time he'd met Simpson—one which she had been looking forward to for weeks—she had become worried.

And, when his absence grew into almost a week after the scheduled date, she had politely asked some of the Athosians to ask after him on Belkan.

It wasn't good news.

"Apparently, there is this planet..." Simpson was nervously smoothing down her trousers as she paced inside Elizabeth's office, the wrecked look on her face the only reason McKay didn't immediately jump on the unfinished sentence. Sheppard's whole team was there, along with Dora, who was watching the agitated blonde scientist with concern.

Sheppard cleared his throat and sat forward. "Uh, what kind of planet?"

"A bad planet," Simpson replied miserably, still pacing and not really looking at anyone in the room. Sheppard shared a look with McKay, as if to say, 'when are they not?'.

Elizabeth's eyes narrowed briefly. "A bad planet?"

"Well..." Dora stepped forward, the tall woman looking to Simpson for permission to speak. The blonde gave it with a sharp nod, and turned around so that her back was to the room. She was still shivering a little.

"Well," Dora said again, this time to the room at large, "not a bad planet, exactly. More a planet we do not know much about, other than rumor. The people there are famous for being both isolationist and for being technological savants."

"Savants?" Sheppard repeated, glancing again at McKay, who had frowned at the word. "What does that mean?"

"The planet is the current home of the Kaveer," Dora said, looking at Teyla.

"Oh," Teyla breathed out the word heavily, and all eyes turned to her. She grimaced under the scrutiny, meeting all their eyes evenly.

"The Kaveer," she explained, "are a nomadic people, much like the Athosian people were. They rarely stay in one place for too long. Once there is a threat of Wraith," she sighed, "they move on."

"They were never known to be an aggressive people, at least, not in the past," Dora said, taking back the thread. "Recently, however..."

"In the last fifteen or twenty years or so," Teyla agreed, nodding.

"...they have been earning a reputation as difficult and miserly," Dora continued. "They used to be frequently seen at the markets, like the one on Belkan, trading the technology they had invented in return for foodstuffs and other necessities. But the last time I remember meeting one was when I was still a child..." Dora brushed back silvering hair as she spoke, the only visible sign that the woman's age was about the same as Elizabeth, despite an unlined face. "They traded tools such as heaters, fire-lighters, air coolers...things like that."

"But they are rarely seen now," Teyla said. "There was a rumor for a while that the Wraith had finally wiped them out, as has happened to so many others who have reached too high a level of development." She gave a soft, sad smile at that before continuing. "Then they came back, but are still seen only rarely."

Dora nodded. "When they do come to the markets these days, it is only to seek out unusual technology, and usually only if tipped off that something new has been found. They do not trade for foodstuffs or cloths, as they used to. We simply assumed that they had managed to become more self-sufficient than they used to be." Dora shrugged, glancing at Simpson, who was still standing tight lipped across the room from her, a study in tension. "They also no longer trade their technology. Not without something impressive in return. They hold their work and science very close."

"So," McKay pursed his lips for a moment, "let me get this straight—we're talking about a community of scientists here?"

"In a way," Teyla agreed. "When I was little, I remember meeting a Kaveer my father was friends with at the markets, and he did remind me a little of Doctor Zelenka in his exuberance. But…not since then. And no other Kaveers I have met were like that—they were more," she frowned, as if seeking the right analogy, "like the Genii."

"Oh, that's not good," Rodney noted quietly.

"You mean, more militant?" Sheppard pressed. Teyla nodded.

"Yes."

"It is worse than that now, Teyla," Dora said. "You have not traded as much in the markets lately, so you would not know the most recent gossip." She turned to look at the gathered group. "These days, the Kaveer have earned another reputation—as thieves."

"Thieves?" Elizabeth prompted, leaning forward on her arms at her desk.

Dora nodded. "A rumor has been circulating that, when they can not trade for technology they find interesting, they steal it. Or...that they trick those whom they believe to have knowledge of new technology to visit their planet," she glanced at Teyla, "and those people are never seen again."

"Dora, please," Teyla frowned unhappily, shaking her head a little, "you should not propagate such rumors." Teyla looked to Elizabeth, "Theft is not unknown at the markets, of course," she said, her brow furrowed as she returned her gaze Dora. "But kidnapping? The Kaveer...?"

"I understand your reticence, Teyla, I do. Unfortunately," Dora grimaced, "we have reason to believe the rumors are true. We even, to a degree, have proof."

Teyla frowned more at that, and Dora nodded. Simpson emitted a tiny whimper, and her arms cinched even more tightly around her thin frame. Teyla glanced at the other doctor, before focusing back on Dora.

"What sort of proof?" she asked carefully.

"We visited the planet," Dora said. "Under the pretence of seeking a new trade alliance, we thought we might see if we could find out what happened to Connam."

"And did you find him?" Sheppard asked, leaning forward on his knees.

"No," Dora shook her head. "But," she grimaced, pursing her lips, then looked Elizabeth straight in the eye, "we did see Dodge."

"His horse?" Sheppard straightened in his chair. Connam's large draft horse was an unmistakable creature, nearly one and a half times the size of a large Clydesdale and ridiculously strong.

"Dram," Dora corrected, but she was nodding, knowing that was what the people from earth called the creatures. "We saw her grazing in one of the fields near the main compound, boxed in with a variety of other animals, her coloring and size making her instantly recognizable even though she appeared...unwell." She shook her head, "There was no sign of either the trader's wagon, or the man himself. And we were able to see quite a bit."

"Oh, that is wrong," Sheppard nodded. He looked at Elizabeth, "She's right. Connam doesn't let Dodge just wander. Not unless he can see her. And wherever Dodge is, the wagon should have been nearby."

"Yes, but..." Elizabeth frowned at her military commander, "surely, Connam does not always need to be near his animal. When he visits other planets, does he not stable...?"

"No," Dora answered for the colonel. "Connam sleeps in his wagon. And he doesn't let his dram get that far from it, either. And I have never seen Dodge look that thin." She frowned. "Connam would never allow it."

"He loves that horse," Simpson sniffed, finally rejoining the conversation. She was looking at Elizabeth through watery eyes. "As much as he loves that wagon. He once told me that he rarely lets either of them out of his sight, because of what they mean to him. If Dodge is wandering alone, where he can't see her, then something has happened to him."

"I have to agree. I have worked with him a great deal over the past year," Dora glanced at Simpson, "there is something wrong."

"I think they're right, Elizabeth," Sheppard agreed, his expression grim.

"Yeah," McKay raised a hand, "me too."

"If he is in danger," Teyla said, stepping forward to show her agreement, "then we owe it to him to try and help. After all, he aided in our escape from—"

"I know," Elizabeth raised a hand to cut her off, shaking her head. "I was there, if you recall." The expedition leader sighed and glanced around the room, meeting the faces in front of her one by one. Finally, she gave a nod.

"Okay," she said, "but we are not going in without some sort of plan." She looked at Dora, "we need everything you can tell us that you saw on that planet, and everything you know about the Kaveer." She then turned to the red-eyed Simpson, her face solemn. "If he is being held there against his will, we will get him out."

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TBC...

So, now you know what the rescue mission is. Should be a piece of cake right? Hee!

And, yes, Eric Connam is the OC I'm borrowing from Failure to Communicate. I just love the idea of someone like him – a gypsy among the stars, you know? The snake oil salesman of Pegasus...But again, I promise, you don't need to know or care anything about him for this story. You just need to know that he is someone they would risk a mission for.