Chapter 10

As they had to wait, Sheppard and Teyla made their way back to the medical centre. Jennifer was still working on Ronon. There was nothing they could do. At a loss what to do next, Sheppard and Teyla walked back to the gate room, just as a wormhole engaged.

'Colonel Sheppard, I was just about to call you. We have made contact.' Zalenka called down.

'Thanks.' And without waiting, John stepped through the event horizon, closely followed by Teyla and Lorne with his team.

He exited the Stargate, immediately surrounded by the warrior villagers. Slowly John lifted his arms. After the wormhole disengaged, he slowly walked forward.

From behind the warriors, the village elder walked to him. They nodded.

'We have come back for our friend.' John said without preamble.

'He is undergoing the cleansing ritual before his sacrifice to the gods.'

'You'll need to explain that to me a bit more.' John said rather annoyed.

'Since when is a sneeze so bad? We all do it.' He argued.

'Not here, Colonel Sheppard. Long ago we suffered a great illness. It all started with sneezing fits and left nearly all our population dead. Those days we were visited by the Ancestors and they helped us. To prevent the sickness taking hold, our nose cavities are closed off when we are mere babies. No one here has ever sneezed again.'

At least that explained the funny way these people spoke. He hadn't dared ask the other night.

'Well, let us take our friend and we won't come back.' Sheppard tried again.

'We cannot allow this. He sneezed. He needs to be presented to the gods for this. They will decide on his faith.'

'Why?' John raised his voice a little. He knew it would not help McKay but he felt so helpless.

'Colonel Sheppard, this is how we do things here. If the gods allow it, your friend will survive his test and be returned to you. Should he survive, we would be amiss if we did not help him and prevent him from sneezing ever again. But this is too early to talk of such things. First the gods must be appeased.'

Underneath his seemingly calm exterior, John was fuming. Either Rodney was killed doing whatever stupid test they had, or he survived and lost his ability to breathe normally for the rest of his live. He didn't like either choice.

'Can we be there when he does this test?' John asked.

'No, the test is not until the morning and done in a private setting. You may wait here but you are not allowed to enter the village.'

Sheppard nodded. At least he would be close by. He'd find a way of getting to McKay, he just had to.

'Well, if you don't mind, we'll make camp here for the night.'

The village elder just nodded, turned and left them.

'Teyla, report in. Just tell Carter we'll be spending the night here.'

She walked to the DHD while the rest of the men cleared an area for a camp.

The village warriors were still there but had withdrawn closer to the village.

Slowly night fell over their fire. Everything went pitch black. This world didn't have a moon to light up the night skies.

John was restless. Somewhere out there was Rodney being cleansed. Whatever that meant.

And home Ronon was fighting for his live. And he could do nothing for either of them. He hated that feeling.

00000000

Rodney woke up in his cell again. He had no idea how he had gotten there. It was still dark and he was cold again. He tried to sit up only then noticing the discomfort spreading over his body.

'Oh, no. It was not a dream!' He moaned quietly. His hands travelled over his naked body. He could feel the cuts all over him, his arms, his legs, his chest, his stomach, even his back as far as he could reach. He felt wet all over. Not deep enough to kill him but deep enough for him to keep losing blood. That was odd as well. Little cuts like that should stop bleeding soon.

Rodney shook his head, trying to clear his mind and remember what had happened. They must have given him something. First in that soup or he would never have allowed them to take his clothes. Then in the drink at the sauna. With a flash he remembered how much he had liked it, being cut, feeling the pain. This was so not like him. He normally hated getting hurt. He was not brave at all, not like Sheppard or Ronon. Ronon. How was he doing? At least he was back on Atlantis now, where Jennifer could take care of him. His Jennifer. If he didn't survive this, Ronon would have the field free to make a move on her.

'No, don't even go there.' He admonished himself.

The clearer his mind got, the more the pain filtered through. He knew already he could not escape this room. He sat quietly in the dirt, unable to think of anything he could do. Absentmindedly, he started scratching himself, drawing even more blood.

He looked down at his hand, realising what he was doing.

'No, no, no, not good!'

He got up and started pacing through the little room. He had to keep walking, he could not sit down. If he did, he might hurt himself even more.

Rodney kept walking and walking. But he was getting tired. The blood was still flowing slowly from the hundreds of cuts he had. And just before daylight flooded back in, he succumbed to the pain and the effect of the loss of blood. He went through his knees and fell on the dirty floor.

His last thought: 'Great, now all the germs are getting in me as well. Wonder what will kill me first?'

TBC