Chapter Thirteen

Ten Thousand Years Later

Year Two of the Expedition, 1513 hours(Atlantis Base Time)

Kurt looked over at Yanson who got to his feet, the man was a little shakey at first but his cold muscles soon woke up and he was secure on his feet as usual. The man brushed the snow off his blue fatigues and looked over at Kurt. Kurt unclipped the P-90 from his vest and passed it back over to Yanson. He took it and they both began to walk back to the crashed Dart. Kurt reached down and picked up his knife from the snow and wiped it on his pant leg. It took them three or so minutes to walk back the distance that Yanson had ran.

They passed a large flaming peice of the Darts wing, its blue and silver hull was charred black from the fire. The snow around the debris was melted from the extreme heat of the fire. They continued walking past a flaming bush which had also caught a tree on fire and they both blazed loudly as they walked past.

"Thank you sir," said Yanson as he looked toward the ground.

Kurt stepped over a fallen tree and looked over at Yanson, "its alright Luietenant. You couldn't help that you were hit."

Yanson looked into the forest as they both got closer to the Dart. "I shouldn't have let myself get hit like that though, sir."

Kurt looked off into the forest, nothing moved in the darkness. The flames caused shadows to dart and dance on the trees that surrounded the area. The flaming trees crackled loudly as their bark was burned away from their exterior. "Luitentant. Thanks to you getting hit, I was able to get closer to that Wraith and wound it badly. The only problem now is," he trailed off as he watched some trees move slightly from the wind. "That the Wraith now needs to feed to live."

Kurt looked in the debris filled snow until he saw his P-90 lying in the snow. It was partially covered in the snow and all he could see was the barrel and front half of the gun sticking out of the snow. He walked over and picked it up, he ejected the clip then put the clip back in and cocked it.

"We need to get back to Lee and Swenson," said Kurt starting to walk off towards the Stargate.

"Thats it!"

Kurt stepped back at the Doctors outburst, "Whats it?"

"The ship. We can use its cargo to dial the gate," said Doctor Swenson with a smile on her face.

Kurt looked at the DHD then towards her. "Why couldn't we just do it now?"

She frowned and pointed towards the DHD which was a few feet from them. "When the metal sliced its way through the DHD, it destroyed the gates power source. I found this out just after you radioed back about the Darts DHD. It wouldn't have worked even if you had tried it."

Kurt looked over at Lee who was laying the snow. A small pool of blood was at the wound on his leg, Lee layed in the snow with his P-90 in his hand. Kurt walked over to him and kneeled down beside him. "How you holding up, marine?"

"I've had better, sir. But I can make it, don't worry about me."

"Yanson you stay here with Lee. Me and the Doc will go get the cargo," ordered Kurt looking at Yanson who nodded in reply to his officer.

Kurt looked over at the doctor, "Lead the way," he said motioning with his hand.

The sound of electronics locking and the ear splitting sound of pure energy errupting peirced the air. The team all looked to the source of the noise. The Stargates event horizon shot out and was sucked back in.

"Move to cover!"

Yanson reached down and grabbed Lees vest and began to pull the man in the snow. He slid easily as the large man pulled the smaller marine away from the Stargate. Kurt ran back and jumped in behind a large peice of the Puddle Jumper that had finally stopped flaming. Swenson ran and took cover in the forest as the gates Event Horizon finally stabalized and made a shimmering surface.

Kurt unclipped his P-90 and pointed it at the gate. He looked back to see Yanson finally move Lee into the forest with Swenson. He turned back to the gate just as the first occupant exited it. The large Wraith warrior stepped through, in his hands he clutched a large rifle version of the stunners they carriered. It had a large spike on the end that could be used for stabbing in close quaters fights. Its grey armor shinned as the Stargates bright lights shimmered off of it. A few seconds past before another Wraith exited the gate. Then another, and another. The gate finally deactivated as eight Wraith walked down the pedistool the gate stood on. Seven Wraith warriors walked down and into the deep snow. The Wraith Officer stayed back a bit as they scanned the area.

Kurt reached over and turned the volume down on his radio, he turned it on. "Hold your fire," he whispered into the radio.

"Sir, I've got a bead on their officer...," replied Yanson quietly.

"Hold your fire, thats an order. They might just pass us by and go off to the Dart."

Kurt clutched his P-90 with both hands as two of the Wraith warriors now began to walk towards him. He steadied his submachine gun on the closest alien and breathed out slowly. He felt his hands sweat heavily in his gloves. The edge where the gloves met his sleeve steamed from the sweat. Kurt got down slightly lower behind the debris as the two warriors approached him.

Kurt held his breath as they were now just a few feet from him. The large blueish green creatures skin could easily be seen in the cold. There face plates steamed as they breathed in the cold air. Their breathing was loud and seemed labored for the large creatures in the cold night air. Kurt could feel his nose getting runny and he cursed in his head. He started breathing with his mouth as the two creatures looked off into the forest and at the debris of the Puddle Jumper.

The creature to his right stepped forward and began to look at the charred debris. Kurt felt his adreneline kick in and his breathing quickened as the large creature walked towards him looking at the debris. Kurt knew this was going to be it.