Ronon POV

I woke to find myself lying upon an uneven stone floor. My limbs were cold and stiff, and as I pushed myself into a sitting position my head began to ache. I licked my lips to find my tongue dry and an unsavory metallic taste in my mouth. As I got my bearings, I traced a faint ray of light from a window above to look around at what appeared to be a small holding cell. Like the floor, the walls and ceiling were also made of stone and I shivered as I tried to rub some warmth into my bare shoulders with my hands. It was then that I saw the unconscious form of Troy lying next to me. On the other side of him, a short way off, lay Erik. I guessed the three of us had been dragged in here and left while unconscious, as I had no memory of walking here.

"Troy?" I reached out and touched the younger man's leg as I sought to wake him. He felt cold to the touch – unnaturally cold, I realized, even given his surroundings. My stomach dropped and I snatched my hand back in reflex. With trepidation, I leaned over Troy's lifeless body and touched Erik instead. To my relief he stirred almost immediately.

"Uhh..." he groaned as he rolled over on the stone floor. I watched him lie there for a moment until he got his bearings and then he slowly sat up. "My mouth tastes like crap,"he growled as he coughed into his hand. "What the hell happened?"

"No idea." I told him. "I've just come-to. You know as much as I do." I glanced down at Troy who lay between us. Well, maybe not quite as much as I knew.

Eric groaned again and wiped his hand across his brow. As he did so, he noticed Troy for the first time. "Troy?" He reached out to wake him in much the same way as I had just done. "Troy?" he repeated. His face filled with confusion and then anguish as it slowly dawned on him that his younger cousin was not going to wake. He glanced at me and I shook my head.

"No," he whispered, as he pressed his fingers to Troy's neck to search in vain for a pulse. "No!"

I stood up and turned away to give him some privacy. The loss of Troy was something I felt keenly but I did not want my sorrow to intrude on a moment that I felt should belong to Erik. Instead, I approached the iron door of our stone prison and pressed my face up to the bars on the single window – our only source of light and ventilation in the small room. Outside, I could see a stone corridor, lit by a single florescent bulb. The ceiling and walls of the corridor were made of stone and looked much the same as the cell we were in. A quick scan of the area showed no other doors or windows and certainly no sign of life of any kind.

"Hey!" I called out. "Someone gonna let us out of here?"

There was no reply, so I grabbed the bars with my fists and tried to rattle the door. It didn't budge. In frustration, I stepped back from it and reached for my gun. The hinges were likely to be the weakest spot, I figured I could blast… I froze as my hand found my empty gun belt. Damn it! I launched myself at the door and set about in an all out attempt to knock it down with my fists and boots.

"It's not going to give." Erik's voice, low and calm came from behind.

"I know that," I rounded upon him. "Do you suggest I sit here do nothing?" I turned back to the door and pressed my face up against the bars. "Hey!" I yelled again, "I know you can hear me. Come out here and show yourselves!" I continued to kick and pound the door until I was no longer cold. Eventually exertion and dehydration stripped me of energy and I leaned against the stone wall as I panted for breath.

Erik stood up and left Troy's side for the first time. With an icy calm he took his first look out the window into the corridor beyond. "Where the hell are we?" he said. "And more importantly, how do we get out of here?"

Sara POV

I began to feel better the moment I entered Atlantis. There was something about Colonel Sheppard and the people there that inspired confidence, and right now that was exactly what I needed. The moment I told him that Ronon, Erik and Troy were missing, he and Doctor Weir called a meeting to discuss ideas for going after them. The familiar faces of John, Doctor Weir, Rodney, Teyla and Carson looked back at me as I took a seat beside Marcus and told them the few details of the situation that we knew.

"We need to act quickly," Doctor Weir said from the head of the table as we finished speaking. "The longer we leave it, the less likely our chances are of finding them. I suggest we send a jumper out immediately to the area of their last confirmed location."

Marcus shifted in his seat beside me. "I sent a team of Sparcs to that exact area the moment we lost contact with them and they came back empty handed. What makes you think you'll find anything that they didn't?"

"With all due respect," John turned to him, "as fine as your sparc fighters are, they lack a lot of the technology that our jumpers specialize in. At least if we go out and take a look we can be sure we haven't missed anything." He shrugged. "I think Elizabeth's idea is a good place to begin."

Marcus nodded. "I hate to waste time by going over ground we have already covered, but you make a good point."

John smiled at him in acknowledgement. "Believe me, we are just as anxious to find these guys as you are." He looked to Weir. "We should get going. If there's anything else we need to look at we can go over it when we get back."

She nodded. "Very well. Take your team, along with Sara and Major Lancaster down to the jumper bay and prepare for launch."

The sound of chairs scraping the floor filled the room as everybody stood up. With a sinking feeling, I looked down at Natara who was sitting quietly on my lap. Too late, I realized my mistake in bringing her. If I wanted to look for Ronon and the others I would have to risk taking my daughter to the very same spot where her father had gone missing only a few hours before. I knew right away that Ronon would not want her in that situation, and that he would never forgive me if I was to put her in it. I had to admit that I felt the same way.

"Sara?" Carson appeared beside me. He looked down at Natara and smiled at her. "If you want, I can keep an eye on the wee one for you while you're away."

I looked at him and smiled. Natara knew the kindly doctor well enough and she seemed to like him. I was so very tempted to take him up on his offer… "Thank you," I exhaled slowly. "But with everything that's gone on in the last hour, she knows something's not right. I'd rather not leave her."

"Very well," he smiled. "I thought it couldn't hurt to offer." He bent to meet Natara's eyes. "It looks like somebody's about to go for their first ride in a puddle jumper then," he grinned.

"Actually…" I raised my voice to catch Colonel Sheppard before he left the room. "If you all don't mind, I think I might let Marcus cover for me on this one." I stroked Natara's hair as I steeled myself to say what I needed to. "I can't take my daughter out there, and I don't want to leave her here without me. I… I hope you understand."

Colonel Sheppard paused, and then came back to me. "I understand completely," he said. "And for what it's worth, I think it's a good decision you've made. There's likely not much to see out there this afternoon. We'll take a look around and if we find anything, I promise you, you'll be the first to know."

His voice was soft and kind, but it did little to make me feel better. Staying put had never been my thing, and never was I more aware of it than now. "Thank you," I told him. "I really appreciate what you're all doing."

He grinned and raised his eyebrow. "Hey. My buddy's out there. I'm not just gonna sit back and let anything happen to him."

I nodded. "I know," I told him.

He turned to Marcus. "I take it you're still on board?"

Marcus looked from me to the Colonel. "Absolutely."

"Alright then, let's roll out," the Colonel turned and led the way out of the room. Marcus did not follow immediately and for a moment I thought he was going to say something to me, but in the end he changed his mind and simply nodded his head before leaving.

"Mommy?" Natara looked up at me, her face filled with worry.

"It's okay, sweetie," I told her as I rubbed her back. "Mommy's here." Somehow I managed to keep my voice neutral, even though my heart felt like it was being ripped from my chest. Somewhere out there Ronon, my brother and my cousin, were missing. They could be hurt or needing help. It was the hardest thing I had ever done to stand there and watch while others went out to find them.

-0-

The afternoon stretched into evening. Natara and I took up residence in Doctor Weir's office so we could be easily reached if any news came through. All around us, everyone went about their business, but for me it felt like time had come to a standstill. Eventually, Natara grew tired and I lay her down on the leather settee and covered her with my jacket as she dropped off to sleep. This left me free to pace the floor and worry, without having to pretend that nothing was amiss.

"Knock, knock," Carson's head appeared around the partially open door. He smiled as he saw me and then presented from behind his back two sandwich packs, sealed in plastic wrapping. "Thought you two might need these," he said, and then lowered his voice as he noticed that Natara was sleeping. "Poor little mite, I guess it's been a long day for her."

I nodded. "She and I both."

He stepped further into the room and placed the sandwiches down on top of the coffee table. "Can I be of help with anything?" he asked. "I'm finding it most difficult to sit here and do nothing while everyone else is out there attempting to find Ronon and the others."

I gave a small, humorless laugh. "I guess that makes two of us," I said as I passed my hand over my forehead. "What time is it?"

"Last time I looked it was a little after 10.30pm," he said. "It's probably closer to 11.00 by now."

"They've been gone for so long," I said. "And we still haven't heard anything?"

Carson shook his head. "Not that I am aware of. I'm sure it won't be long now though."

He had barely finished speaking when Doctor Weir appeared at the door. "They're back," she said. "I've just been in contact with Colonel Sheppard, and I'm sorry to tell you that it appears they were not able to locate Ronon or the others directly." She softened her voice as she continued. "However, there is still cause to hope. They believe they may have found a lead that could take us to them."

"Really?" My hopes instantly rose. "What did they find?"

"I'll let Colonel Sheppard explain when he gets here," she said. "That way he won't have to repeat himself. At this stage, he knows more of the details than I do anyway."

I nodded, anxious to hear any news that might at least confirm Ronon, Erik and Troy were still alive. The time dragged by, but really it was probably only about ten minutes before Colonel Sheppard and the others filled into Doctor Weir's office. I stood impatiently while they settled themselves on various pieces of furniture around the room. Marcus sat on the settee next to Natara.

"Well, although we did not find the missing men, the good news is, our mission was not a complete loss," Colonel Sheppard began. For the benefit of those who were hearing this for the first time, he went on to detail exactly what had happened while they were away. "As you know, we took the jumper to visit the last know location of the missing Apec. Just as Major Lancaster had warned, we found no visible trace of the ship in the Area. However, the jumper did manage to pick up unusually high levels of radio active waste in the vicinity. General Thorn mentioned a large transport ship in his call to Tarus, so we figured the waste might be a by-product of the same ship."

Rodney took his cue to join the conversation. "By adopting a form of radioactive dating, I was able to determine the amount of natural atomic fission that had occurred inside the radio active substance. This gave me an equation that I then entered into the jumper's computer system. From there I was able to determine age, atmospheric drift and most importantly… density," he gestured with his hands for emphasis. "These calculations allowed me to not only predict the time of the radio active deposit, but also the course of the particles within."

"What Doctor McKay is trying to say," Colonel Sheppard broke in, "Is that he could determine the direction the ship had taken when it left the area."

"Yes," Rodney countered. "That was my point exactly. Of course," he snapped his fingers together, "once I had determined the direction, it was then relatively easy for us to follow the trail…" Suddenly he began to flounder – something I found unusual, given that on any given day, Rodney would freely admit to being partial to the sound of his own voice. "Uh…" I watched him look to Colonel Sheppard for help. Colonel Sheppard in turn looked to Teyla.

"You might like to take things from here," he prompted as Teyla stood up from the table she was leaning on.

"Very well," she said as she clasped her hands together in front of her. "The decision was made that we would follow the trail while it was still fresh. Our biggest fear was that the transport ship may have been small enough to use the Stargate, in which case we would have lost the trail. Instead, we were lucky to be able to follow the waste material all the way to a nearby world – a world commonly known by the name of Danisine."

I felt myself breath a little easier. We had a possible location. Tomorrow we could go there and search for Ronon and the others… My thoughts broke off as I realized Teyla was looking at me.

"As it turns out, I have heard talk of this world, and of the people who live there," she said as she held my gaze. "If Ronon and the others are being held there as we suspect, then I am sorry to have to tell you this, Sara, but I hold very grave fears for their safety."

My heart sank. "Why?" I asked. "What do you know?"

It was a moment before she replied, and when she did, I realized she was choosing her words carefully. "Danisine is a small world in terms of size, but not in terms of reputation," she told the room. I would count everyone here as lucky, that until now, none of us have had cause to do business with the people there in any way or form. The world is ruled by a man who goes by the single name of Rydan – who, happily I have never met him. It is a badly kept secret that he runs Danisine as a black market for weaponry, narcotics, slavery and prostitution." She directed her words to me as she went on. "He is equally well known for the ring fighting tournaments he holds there on a regular basis."

"Ring fighting?" I raised my eyebrows. It was not a term I was familiar with.

"Ring fighting is where two opponents – or sometimes teams – are placed inside a confined area and pit against each other in a public fight to the death," Teyla explained.

I took this in with surprising calm. "And you think that is why this man might want Ronon and the others?"

"If he indeed has them captive, I would say there is a very good chance," Teyla replied.

Colonel Sheppard held up his hand. "Okay," he said as he took control of the conversation. "First things first. At this stage we don't know for sure if this man… Rydan, even has our men captive. If by chance he does, then we still don't know exactly what his plans for them are. We need to go there and see what we can learn. If Ronon and the others do turn out to be there, it might be possible to negotiate a trade for their release, or if necessary, break them out."

Teyla gave a humorless smile. "Danisine is not the kind of world that you just walk up and visit," she said. "Some of the worst known criminals and outlaws in the galaxy frequent the area, and they are not the kind of people from whom you want to draw attention. To go there, you would need something to offer Rydan. Something that might appeal enough for him to grant you entry."

The room lapsed into silence for a moment. What Teyla said made sense, but what did any of us have that a man like Rydan would want?

"You said the man deals in weapons?" Marcus ventured after a pause, and then he turned to me. "Your brother has an arsenal of unusual guns stored back at Tarus."

I nodded as I caught on to what he was suggesting. "I would be willing to bet nobody on Danisine has ever seen a Vesper before," I said as pictured the unusual pair of hand guns that took pride of place in Erik's collection. "We could tell Rydan that we manufacture them… and maybe that we need some way to offload them to the public market?"

Colonel Sheppard shrugged and looked to Weir for comment.

"It could work," she said.

The pair were silent for a moment as they thought over my idea more fully. "If we're gonna do this, we need to do it properly and look the part," the Colonel said. "We can't just rock up there in our Atlantis uniforms and expect this man to play ball."

Rodney held up his hand. "Uh… Are you suggesting we get to dress up as bad guys?"

Colonel Sheppard raised his eyebrows. "I wasn't thinking dress up, so much, Rodney. More that we actually play the part. Any wrong move and I'm guessing this…Rydan character will pick up on it." He looked around the room. "The plan certainly has risks, but I for one am willing to give it my best shot. Anyone else?"

"I'll go," I immediately volunteered. To my surprise, Teyla gave me a sidelong look, but before I had time to question it, I was drowned out by the voices of Marcus, Rodney and Carson who put their names forward also.

"I was thinking maybe a team of four," the Colonel said as he did a mental calculation of the five of us. "That way there will hopefully be enough of us to defend ourselves if necessary, but not so many so as to draw suspicion.

"Might I say something?" Teyla interrupted. When she had everyone's attention she went on. "The reason I did not put my name forward for this mission is because I do not believe Danisine to be a hospitable place for woman. We are not seen there as equals, but more as commodities, to be bought, sold and used as desired." She looked at me. "Even with Colonel Sheppard and the others to look out for you, if you go to Daniaine, you will be putting yourself in a lot of danger, Sara."

As she finished speaking, Colonel Sheppard turned to me. He pursed his lips together, and looked at me with a grim expression. "I know how much this means to you," he said, "…but if what Teyla says is right, then I'm not sure I feel comfortable about taking you along, Sara."

My heart stopped in my chest. "You're not leaving me behind," I told him. "Those three men, they mean everything to me. There is no way you can expect me to sit this one out." He looked at me, his face filled doubt. "I can look after myself," I told him. "I promise I won't cause problems…"

"It's not those things I'm worried about," he replied. "Put yourself in my shoes for just a moment. Say I take you with us to such a place and something goes wrong – can you imagine what I would tell Ronon? Or your brother for that matter? If anything happened to you, do you have any idea what it would do to them?"

"How about what it's doing to me right now?" I countered. "I don't even know if they're still alive…" My voice waivered but I refused to accept defeat. "I can't just stay here and do nothing…" I shook my head slowly. "I just can't." To my surprise, Marcus came to my defense.

"Let her come," he said to the Colonel. "Either we do it this way or we risk her showing up in the cargo hold unannounced." He smiled to soften his words. "If it comes to it, I'll take responsibility for her being with us."

The Colonel sighed and shook his head. "Well, alright then," he reluctantly agreed. "But just for the record, this goes against my better judgment." He turned away from me and spoke to Carson and Rodney. "Sorry guys, looks like there's only room for one more."

I vaguely registered Rodney nominating himself as the final member of our group as I turned to Marcus. "Thank you," I told him. "You didn't need to do that, but I'm really grateful you did."

He gave me a level look, and I could tell that he was already questioning his decision. "When we get there, you do as I say. Agreed?"

"Of course," I quickly replied. If the need arose for me to do otherwise, then I'd simply cross that bridge when I came to it.

"I'm serious, Sara," he read my thoughts. "Just like Colonel Sheppard, I have no desire to break the news of your demise to Ronon or your brother."

Two things hit me at once. First; Marcus had actually spoken Ronon's name – something he usually tended to avoid, and second; exactly how much he had just taken on for me. I lowered my eyes. "I understand," I told him. "And… If it makes you feel better, I won't leave your side the whole time we're there."

He gave me a look that said he suspected otherwise, and then to my surprise we both smiled. We might no longer be as close as we once were, but it seemed we still knew each other well enough. I turned and scooped Natara up off the settee. She had slept through the entire meeting and only stirred a little as I positioned her over my hip to carry her home. Despite the fact that her presence had stopped me from going with the others today, I found I was still grateful to have her close to me. I rocked her gently as Colonel Sheppard called the room to attention again.

"Okay. This is the plan for tomorrow. McKay, Sara, Major Lancaster and I will all meet back here at 0800 hours. Major," he looked at Marcus, "I'm leaving you in charge of the vespers. Make sure you bring them, and anything else you find that you think might be of use, along with you." He looked from Marcus to include Rodney and I. "Try to dress so you blend in with the kind of people we are probably gonna encounter tomorrow." He paused and turned to Rodney who suddenly seemed to be highly amused about something. "Something the matter?" he asked him.

"No," Rodney shook his head. "No, I'm fine… I just had a really good idea for my bad guy look."

The Colonel raised his eyebrows and gave him an amused look.

"What?" Rodney asked, and then rolled his eyes as he pieced things together. "Oh, I get it. You think I can't do the bad boy look? Right?"

"Hey, I didn't say anything," the Colonel replied, although his expression indicated Rodney had guessed his thoughts.

"Well, you just wait and see, my friend," Rodney pointed his finger at him. "You just wait and see."

The Colonel smiled and shook his head in amusement. "On that note, I think it's time we all called it a night."

As there were no further questions, everyone slowly began to disperse. With my thoughts alternating between hope and concern, I held on tight to Natara and walked with Marcus back towards the portal that would take us home to Tarus.

-0-

A/N: thank you to those that reviewed my last chapter. Chesi66, you have no idea how much I enjoyed reading your thoughts. Thank you!