Chapter 13 Reconnaissance

She'd come out of it a little easier than he had thought. Quiet though, and sad, sad eyes and he wanted, more than anything, to plant his fist in the face of the men who did this to her. He hadn't really known what to say to her, walking with her down the hallway back to her quarters, she had not reached out for him, and he had kept his hands in his pockets, thinking she needed just a little distance from it all.

He ran his hand lightly down her hair as she walked past him into her quarters and he hesitated at the door. "I'm going to get you something to eat Dani, and I'll bring it back, you'll be ok for a few minutes?" She didn't answer, just turned those sad gray eyes towards him and he was lost, burying his face in her hair as he felt the chip that had been made in the dam, begin to weaken further and finally break and knew that the only thing he could do right now was hold her.

At some point he'd moved, simply picking her up and taking her over to the bed, intending to lay her there knowing sleep would help. Instead he found himself following her down, and when she moved against him, fitting her body against his, he had to grit his teeth to stop the pure surge of desire that shot through him. The agony of lying there, his body on fire, knowing that sleep would not come, then the surprise of waking in the early hours of the morning, knowing that sleep had indeed come with the cool breeze of the ocean coming through the still open balcony doors carrying the scent of salt and seaweed to find that he was feeling more rested than he had felt in a long time. And that a pair of sombre gray eyes were looking back at him,a little sleepily and a little surprised and that the hand belonging to those rather sexy gray eyes were in fact under his shirt and spanned across his stomach, dangerously close to an area that really did not need any encouragement at the moment.

"Morning... at least I think it is..." he grasped her wrist then, and gently drew her hand away. She was not emotionally ready for this, and when it did happen, there would only be the two of them in the bed, not the ghost of a man who had hurt her so badly.

"Hey..." and she nuzzled into his neck, all warm curves and silken hair and that made his stomach clench also, but in a good way. His stomach rumbled loudly then, in hunger this time and remembered that neither of them had eaten last night and he heard her soft laughter and he rose out of the bed, grateful at least that he could fulfill at least one of his hungers.

Dressed again in the Satedan clothes, he met Ronan in the gate room. They had conferenced with General O'Neill for part of the morning and filled him in on what had been discovered through Dani's hypnosis. The General had been quiet for some time upon hearing the news and when he did speak, there was disappointment in his voice.

"When something this vile reaches to those levels of power, it makes you wonder why the hell we do this. What good are we doing in the world, in the universe, if it can be overridden, taken away, but the darkness and greed of one group of people. It makes me sick people, and makes me ashamed to be from this world."

It was Elizabeth who had answered him. "Well General, we can stop them, and set such an example to them that it is not done again. Yes, there is a dark side to humanity,but there is also good, and we'll focus on that for now."

Ronan and John waited for the stargate to dial up, ready for their recon meeting. Elizabeth and a team of marines had been to the planet yesterday afternoon to set up their cover story so that when the meeting took place, it would all as they expected. John fingered his weapon, waiting for the dialling procedure to be completed and the wormhole established so that they could step through. He felt that familiar lick of nervousness in the pit of his belly, that he usually felt just before a mission - gave him a sense of good luck so to speak, and asssured him that his adrenalin was running on high. Just before they stepped through, Ronan gave him a hooded look. "A little bird had you leaving a certain set of quarters in the early hours of this morning. Something you wanna tell me?"

"No damn privacy on this base Ronan... and FYI, nothing happened. Not that it's any of your business."

"Maybe not, but I'd hate to see the lady get hurt again...Just saying..."

John's anger fired up. "You really think I'd do something that low... hell, I'm no animal Ronan."

"Had to be said, given your track record around here with the ladies... love em and leave em Sheppard... not exactly the best credentials my friend."

"So you're making this your business - why?" John had moved in close to Ronan, unaware that they had an audience up in the control room that included a grinning Rodney, a frowning Elizabeth and two gate technicians who were about to place wagers on who would take the first swing.

"Just saying Sheppard,I think she's worth a little more than your usual attention span." John appeared to deflate just a little with the understanding that Ronan cared enough to take the time to make sure she was not hurt again.

"Point taken Ronan, and if I didn't care, last night would have turned out a lot different, believe me." Seeing the truth in John's eyes, he nodded once, satisfied and looked up at the control room just as Elizabeth retorted somewhat sarcastically... "The wormhole only stays open 38 minutes... take this argument to the other side, better still take it up when you get back, but just get through that damn wormhole!" John's half hearted salute brought a reluctant smile to her face.

They discarded their weapons in a secure location as soon as they were through the gate and made their way to the settlement where they were greeted by the local people. Offered a beverage in the local tavern, John turned a little green and politely declined, muttering something about being the sober driver and Ronan grinned, their old comradie back again.

"Your guests await you in the tavern. We took the liberty of providing them with refreshments. They arrived much earlier than we expected and wanted to take a look at the mining area first, before the meeting." The chancellor, Eldad looked at them concerned, hopeful that he had done the right thing. They owed a debt of gratitude to the people of Atlantis and it was important that the roles they had been given were played out correctly.

He did however, not miss the look that passed between Ronan and John, at the mention of their interest in the mining area. This served to confirm that this would be the required payment and John knew that these particular mines were rich in a specific ore that could be easily made into weapons grade energy materials,another reason why this planet had been chosen for the meeting.

"You did just fine Eldad" John said now, reassuring the small man. "That was perfect. We will join them in the tavern now I think and begin our business."

Exchanging a tense look, Ronan and John entered the tavern and found the the four men seated at a table, indulging in the local brew. Their earth weapons rested negigently on the table beside them, and despite their laughter and loud voices as they joked together, John saw the taut posture and wary eyes of trained soldiers and recognised their own. No longer dressed in earth military attire and covered in a little of the grime and dust that would be expected from the working men of this part of the galaxy, they were hard to recognise against the photos that John had imprinted in his mind. He hoped that for the same reasons, his face would appear different as well and in the presence of the large Sateden, it was doubtful that John would look anything like the Colonel Sheppard who had left earth two years ago.

The leader rose as they entered and laughter stopped. He had the bearing of a Colonel and John knew that one of the men in the photos was Colonel Matt Harne, army career man and despite the disguise, knew that this was him. They shook hands in the traditional greeting of this world and he gestured for them to sit down and offered the jug of ale. Ronan readily took a full mug and drank gustily, John grimaced slightly and sipped with less enthusiasm.

The Colonel did not beat around the bush once the introductions were over and his sharp eyes were continually flicking between Ronan and John, as though waiting for one of them to make a wrong move. I"ll have to be very careful John thought. This guy has had the same training that I have, no mistakes, so slip ups, or we're history.

"Gentlemen. What can we do for you?" He steepled his fingers, but it was Ronan to whom he addressed his question, assuming him to be the spokesperson.

"Assistance with a little problem. To put it simply – the neighbouring settlement wish to control the mine. We have only just begun to work this particular mine and it appears to yield a high level of mineral, which we would use for trade. We only want to share in the yield, as is our right. Talking has not proved beneficial and we now wish to make a stronger show of force... shall we say? We do not have weapons, nor training to do this. We wish to hire your services to send this message."

Ronan sat back, having delivered the message as rehearsed and watched for the reactions of the men who sat opposite them. Looking for a sign that their game was not going to be played by their rules.

The Colonel nodded once, a gesture to his men to stand up. "That can be arranged. But first, payment must be discussed. Our services do not come cheap. We require the first large shipment of mineral from your mine, once it is operational, and a smaller portion of each shipment thereafter. I understand that the mine has a possibility of being a profitable and high yielding one, therefore this should not affect your production for trade."

Play it cool John told himself. These boys are running right into our trap.

Ronan had put out his hand, after flicking a small glance at John. "I can make the deal on behalf of my people. It is a deal that they would consider fair. What more will you need from us?"

"We need a precise map of where everything can be located in the area that you require us to perform our methods of persuasion so that we can plan where our best offensive patterns will be set up. We will need several days to put everything in place, however we will need the map before we leave."

John gestured to Eldad who had been watching discreetly from a distance, and bending down close to him, he explained what they would need. Eldad nodded, and went off quickly to fetch a map, with John keeping a wary eye on the soldiers, who were still chatting comfortably with Ronan. At that moment two more soldiers walked in – they had obviously been out in the mine, and getting the lay of the land in order to bring back more information, and John felt himself stiffen as he recognised both Ted and Eric. His fist closed at his side and he felt a sheet of red go down over his eyes, and had to force himself to breathe calmly or he would be at their throats in seconds, hands choking the life out of them. Rising then, he had no choice. He could not sit at the same table as these men, needed to leave now, before he blew this mission with one wrong move.

Nodding at them and walking past them took every inch of will power that he possessed and he caught the curious look that Ted slanted at him, almost as though he knew him, then he was past them and outside and was able to vent a little of his anger on the wall of a building that was out of sight of the tavern. Several punches later, he looked down at his fists in distaste, finding them bruised and bloodied, but still the red hot anger burned through his blood.

He got through the next hour, thinking of Dani, thinking of retribution, he watched as Eldad draw the required map, his bloodied fists rendering his almost useless and made himself go back in the tavern and stare into the faces of the men who had beaten a woman unconcious for information that she had on them, and formed the words is his head. I will kill you.