You all are so wonderful! Thank you all so much! And now, my favorite kind of chapter—I hope you like it!
NEVER STOP MOVING
By TIPPER
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CHAPTER EIGHT: OVERTURNING THE EARTH
Rolling her shoulders, Teyla stepped forward to the wide bars, paying no attention to Connam, though she knew the trader was still watching her. Her lips lifted in a soft smile, and she tilted her head as she watched the guard fiddle with the weapon he had stolen.
"It is called a P90," she offered, "it's a sub-machine gun."
His eyes lifted, their color a dark chocolate brown. They regarded her without much interest or warmth.
"It carries 50 rounds inside its magazine," she continued, slotting her arms through the bars to lean on the central beam. "It's clear, see? That way you can tell how many rounds you have left."
The Kaveer tilted the weapon up, looking at the magazine and the still full set of rounds inside.
"It's light," he grunted, obviously interested despite himself. "I've never seen a weapon this light."
"It's an impact resistant polymer," Teyla smiled some more, quoting her own training on the weapon. "Makes it much lighter than the heavy metals the Genii use."
The Kaveer's eye tilted up to look at her again, the expression narrowed. "The Genii make good weapons."
"Yes," Teyla conceded, "but these are better."
His eyes looked down again, then, suddenly, he swung the weapon up and pointed it at her. Teyla tried not to react to the hostility of the move, but she couldn't stop the flinch and she pulled her arms back a little. The young man smiled. It was an evil, cold smile. Teyla's jaw hardened.
"You have more of these where you come from?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
Teyla gave a single nod.
He smiled some more. "We may want to know where that is."
The Athosian pursed her lips at that statement, then gave a slow nod, as if she were willing to provide that information.
"My goal," she said, stepping carefully with her words, "is to bring you and the people who made that weapon together, as allies."
The young man snorted, "Allies. Sure." He had lowered the weapon again, and was inspecting the flashlight and the sight.
"It has two firing modes," she said, leaning forward again through the bars, trying once more for casual, "semi-automatic and fully automatic. It means you can fire a single bullet, or a spray. It has a manual safety, located under the trigger, and a laser sight, for better aim."
He was no longer leaning against the wall, and, unconsciously, had stepped forward, closer to her cell. "A laser sight?" There was no mistaking the underlying excitement in his voice, it was almost boyish, like he had been given a new toy.
"Yes, see? The switch is there," she pointed vaguely towards the barrel of the weapon. He frowned.
"Where?"
"There. And that's the switch to change firing modes."
"This one?" He was closer now, showing her the side of the weapon, where the switches were.
"No, no, there, see it?" She continued to point generally, not focusing her hands.
He was frowning deeply, completely caught up in the weapon. Standing in front of her now, he showed her the weapon. "Show me."
"My pleasure," she purred.
Reaching forward, as if to touch the weapon, she grabbed the thick material of his robe on his chest. Before he could react, she wrenched him forward, slamming him bodily into the bars, crushing the P90 against his waist where he still held it with both hands. Before he could fall backwards, she got one hand on the barrel of the weapon to hold him still, and socked him with the other through the gap in the bars hard enough to break his nose. From the resounding crack and the flash of pain in her knuckles, she knew she had succeeded in doing just that.
He fell back with a cry, both hands going to his now bleeding face, while Teyla kept hold of her weapon. With surprising ease, she slid it through the bars and had it pointed at the boy's head.
"The switch to single mode firing is here," she said coldly, clicking the switch. "And right now, the safety is off."
He was holding both hands to his nose, eyes wide as they stared at her in shock. "How...what...?"
"Keys," she spat. "Open these doors. Now!"
"Teyla!" Connam finally spoke, leaning against the bars separating the two cells. "Woman, what are you doing here?"
"Rescuing a friend," she replied, not taking her eyes or her aim off the young guard as he fumbled to open her door. "Faster!" she commanded the guard.
"But," Connam looked genuinely bewildered by that answer, "You mean me? You came for me?"
"Doctor Simpson insisted." Teyla smiled as she continued to stare down the barrel of her P90, brown eyes never leaving their focus on the guard as he sniffed and pulled the door open. Blood ran down his face from his nose in a dark rivulet, and he sniffed again when she stepped out, grabbing the keys from him and gesturing him inside.
Connam's eyes were wide now. "No, no, Teyla, this is a bad idea! Are you crazy? Do you know why I am here? Because I refused to tell them who provided me with the items the At—" he cut himself off before saying the name Atlantian, glancing up at the walls in case they had ears, "...that our mutual friends gave me. And you just come walking in here? You're exactly what they want!"
"I think you underestimate us," Teyla said, locking the guard in the cell then turning to unlock Connam's. She looked up at him, her eyes earnest as she worked. "We came as soon as we learned you were here."
Connam's head shook vigorously, his shaggy blond hair flying. "No, you don't understand. Teyla, these people, they're dangerous! They have weapons, dangerous weapons, and they're hungry for more. They kill people for it. I've seen...I've seen them..." He frowned, as is unable to continue as he stepped out to join her. "You should not have come! I can not repay you for the danger this has put you and the others in!"
"There is nothing to repay, Eric," Teyla said, jogging over to the corridor and glancing down it. She had not missed the cameras mounted on the walls overhead. As if on cue, a stunner flash flared down the hall, almost taking her head off before she ducked back, but not before she saw the handful of guards running towards her.
Without hesitation, she pulled out a canister of tear gas from her vest—grateful the guards hadn't taken it—pulled the pin with her teeth, and tossed it down the hall...then sent a hail of bullets from her P90 after at.
"That should slow them down," she said, jogging back to Connam as tendrils of the gas floated out of the corridor. Coughing and words shouting for retreat echoed from somewhere down it. Teyla looked around. "Is there another door?"
"Yes, but..." Connam pointed to another door at the far end of the row of cells. It obviously led to the outside. "There are guards out there. Many of them. You've overcome one guard, but they have a small army here! I've seen them. Teyla...they're ruthless, these people. I have seen military societies, and these people rank up there with the most frightening I have ever met. They've killed at least two of my fellow prisoners since I've been here, torturing them for information with some of the nastiest implements ever devised. I have no doubt that, had I given the impression of being more knowledgeable about Doctor McKay and the others than I am, that—"
"Then these others are like you?" Teyla asked, looking at the five others now pressing against the bars, watching them with wide, hopeful eyes. Many did look beaten, and one or two had clear burns up and down their arms—she did not want to know where those came from.
"Yes. But how...?"
"Teyla!" Lorne's voice came through a window in one of the empty cells near where they were, and Teyla grinned, looking up.
"Major!"
"Teyla, if we blow through this wall with C4, can you get out this way?"
"Yes!"
"Then stand back!"
Teyla gave the keys to Connam, "Free the other prisoners," she ordered. "Hurry." She jogged back to the hallway leading up into the main corridor...and almost had her head taken off again by a stunner flare. The smoke from the tear gas had obviously faded already—they were coming down again. Grimacing, she pulled another canister from her vest and tossed it after the first.
And then Lorne's voice shouted, "Fire in the hole!" and Teyla yelled to the other prisoners, "Get down!"
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Sheppard let loose the first drone, hitting the fuel dump, and grinned like a wolf as the erupting fireball turned his world orange. He let out a whoop and fired another at the first of the Kaveer's transportation vehicles.
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Rodney jolted awake at the first explosion to total and complete chaos. People were running around and over him, and he found himself forgotten on the floor, lying on his side, hands curled up by his head.
Metra's voice was shouting orders somewhere nearby, and the room was rocked with another explosion, this one closer. Someone yelled that the building's wall had been breached, and McKay risked lifting his head and pushing up a little on his arms. Dizziness instantly assaulted him, and he had to take in a deep breath before he was able to stop the bile rising in his throat, hating the burning in his esophagus as he swallowed it back down. Blinking rapidly, he saw Metra not far from him, waving a black stick around that looked like a cattle prod—with electricity buzzing at the end.
His lips parted, momentarily shocked at the realization that they had probably just been about to use that on him to wake him up. Was that the "shock stick"?
"I need this working!" she was screaming, pointing at the still dark sensor grid. "Who managed to get it working before?"
"Doctor Chressa," Baret shouted back, the large, dark man pressing the keys down on the Ancient console in obvious frustration.
"Then get her! Now. You," she pointed to someone, "Get the weapons systems and the shields online, now!"
"But they're all tied together!" the person replied, sounding panicked. "Whatever that man did, he turned them all off at once!"
"Find a way to bypass what he did, then! Are you scientists or not?!" Metra was clearly furious. "I will not be outsmarted by some outlander! I want that ship brought down! Now! If you can't use the Lantean equipment, then use the Genii missile launchers!"
McKay's eyebrows lifted, thinking about what that could mean. Ship? The Jumper must have...
Another explosion, this one louder and even more ferocious, and now McKay could hear the rattle of machine gun fire.
The Jumper was firing! That's why it had decloaked. Yes! They were being rescued! He smiled in relief, not quite managing to stifle a laugh at the same time.
He must have made a sound loud enough to be heard, because Metra suddenly whirled around to stare down at him. Her eyes were wild, her silvered hair a bird's nest on her head, appearing to him like demoness standing at the gates of hell. Before he could utter a word, the black rod in her hand swung down, pointing at him.
He screamed in pain as electricity fired across every nerve ending in his body.
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"Who are they?" Lorne yelled as Teyla ushered all five prisoners through the large hole in the wall along with Connam. She was squinting against the heat pouring in from the outside—the world beyond was literally on fire as the Colonel had exploded every vehicle except for Connam's truck. He had essentially created walls of fire to prevent anyone from coming around the left side of the structure behind their backs. He must have lit a shallow gas pipeline to do that.
"More abductees!" she yelled back, trying to be heard over all the noise. "We have to rescue them as well!" Ronon was inside, firing down the corridor into the main complex, and Lorne's marines were around the right side of the building on the outside, holding back the Kaveer trying to attack from that direction. "What's the plan?" she yelled again.
"I'm taking Connam and, I guess these others, with me and my men on Connam's truck," he shouted. "Colonel's going to make us a way out. We pick up Dodge and get to the Gate and through. You and Ronon get McKay, and find another way out of the building. Wherever you go, the Colonel will pick you up. Then you cover us in the Jumper until we get through the Gate, then come after."
Teyla nodded, "Understood!"
"Good! Now go!"
Teyla didn't question, she just ran over to Ronon's side. He had stopped firing, squinting down the darkened, smoke filled hallway. A brief pause in explosion and gunfire occurred...and they heard someone screaming.
Rodney!
Ronon bellowed and was down the hall instantly, Teyla on his heels.
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Sheppard swung the Jumper around, narrowly avoiding being hit by the missile shot from what looked like an air to ground missile launcher—circa 1950. Had to be Genii design. There was so much black smoke, he was having trouble discerning exactly what was happening below, but he had the life signs up on the HUD, so he could see Lorne and his men clearly, as well as Teyla, Ronon and McKay via their subcutaneous transmitters. He grimaced a little as McKay's "dot" seemed to flicker.
"Sir! We need a hole!" Lorne shouted on the radio. "Twelve o'clock of your current position!"
Sheppard nodded and swooped down, letting loose another drone into the wall blocking Lorne from freedom. The major was sitting in the driver's seat of Connam's truck, the trader by his side, and the other marines in the back with the other freed prisoners. They were still firing on the Kaveer, who were continuing to fight despite obviously being outclassed in firepower. He watched as the truck roared and blew through the hole he'd created, then out into the red plateau. He lifted up and sent another drone in the direction of the small army looking to chase them.
A quick mental check told him he only had about four drones left.
He glanced again at the HUD, noting that Ronon and Teyla were almost on top of McKay.
"Come on, guys..." he whispered.
Another missile launched, and he swerved out of the way, then dove down, blowing the hats off the ducking Kaveer soldiers.
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The pain let up, and McKay found himself panting for breath, still shaking uncontrollably. The world was a blur around him, distorted by the tears filling his eyes. He sensed more than saw Metra kneel next to him, and he blinked in her direction, just trying to see her clearly.
"Tell us how to turn the Lantean machines back on!" she demanded.
He wanted to tell her to go to hell. He wanted to act brave and determined and strong.
Instead, he just whimpered.
He felt her slap his face, and the sting of it felt odd with the tingling electricity still dancing along his skin. "Tell me! Now! What is the trick! How did you—"
"Get away from him!" Ronon's voice boomed from somewhere. McKay tried to smile, but his lips wouldn't work. Nothing worked—except his ears.
"Who are you!" Metra demanded. "How did you—" Then she shrieked as a blast of red light flared out...and was blocked by someone throwing themselves at Metra, pushing her out of the way. Black hair made Rodney think it was Baret. Ronon's fire nevertheless clearly hit both people, sending them flying away from him, somewhere out of sight. He wanted to follow them with his eyes, but found he didn't even have the strength to lift his head up. Machine gun fire filled the background, and Teyla's voice was clear, loudly proclaiming that everyone in the room lower their weapons and get down on the floor.
The next thing he knew, he was being lifted up by his jacket, and that's when he knew he was still shaking violently—because whoever touched him seemed to freak out a little, almost dropping him down again. He tried to explain, to say he couldn't get it stop. But no sound came out.
"What did they do to you?" Ronon asked close to his ear, but it was obviously rhetorical. Rodney felt himself bodily lifted to his feet (still definitely Ronon—no one else could do that with such little obvious effort), then tipped over and across a strong shoulder. Fireman's carry. "Let's go." Ronon announced gruffly. "Teyla, grab his vest! You, Cleran, drop his laptop! Yes, that thing in your hands! Now!" Rodney felt the Satedan's ribs expand each time he shouted, and he thought he could hear his heartbeat as well...but that might have been his own. "Where's the nearest exit?" Ronon asked then.
"That way," Teyla replied from somewhere far away. "Give me that!" she snarled then.
Rodney had no idea whom Ronon or Teyla were talking to, but he felt the tall man's muscles shift under him, and they were turning...and jogging. He gasped in pain as the bony shoulder dug into his abdomen, Ronon's grip tightening around his legs. He blinked and grabbed at the back of Ronon's flapping, long great coat, one hand wrapping around the sheath of his sword.
He felt bone-weary and sick, his blood rushing to his face, the bile he'd managed to swallow before rising again up his throat...or down, since he was facing towards the ground. All he could see was black linoleum and the back of Ronon's calves and feet. His body still shook. Could Ronon feel him shaking? He felt like there were a hundred ants crawling up and down his body. Everything hurt, ached...
There was more gunfire, and he caught flashes of red light from Ronon's gun, reflecting mutely off the shiny linoleum.
"This way!" Teyla called, and he felt Ronon's muscles shift again as he turned.
Abruptly, they were outside, the black linoleum replaced by too bright red sand, and he winced at the assault of sunlight on his corneas. Even upside down, it was too much after the black from before. His world began to spin.
"Colonel! Down here!" Ronon boomed, and McKay shut his eyes.
Air blasted, lifting up Ronon's coat, nearly smothering Rodney. There was more gunfire, and he guessed Ronon was firing as well, though he could only guess that from the way Ronon seemed to turn this way and that with him still on his shoulder.
"Get him inside!" Was that Sheppard's voice?
And suddenly, he was inside something cool, the familiar black metal surface of the Jumper floor visible. He wanted to hug it.
"Ronon! What's wrong with him? McKay? You okay?"
He wanted to answer Sheppard's question, but words were too hard to form. But it didn't matter, because Ronon answered for him.
"They did something to him." Good answer, Ronon. McKay almost smiled, but his face didn't want to work.
"We're in! Go!" Teyla called them, and Rodney vaguely noticed the sunlit metal floor turning dark as the back hatch shut. "Go! Go! Go!"
He felt Ronon press against a bench and slide him off his shoulder. Smaller hands helped, and he suddenly was sitting upright, looking at Teyla. She was very blurry, but he could see that she was smiling at him.
"You're safe," she whispered.
So Rodney promptly leaned over and threw up at her feet.
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TBC...
Oh yeah...you know it's not that easy, right?