Grief
chapter four
Uliana woke to the sound of moans. Ignoring her own fever, she rose wearily to her beloved's side. His sickness apparent, she grabbled for the basin just in time to thrust it under him. Eventually his heaving stilled, most likely due to his exhaustion.
"Oh, my love! I will not fail you this time! You must live! I will make sure of it! You can not leave me...not again! I love you so! Please get well!"
He was confused by the woman's words, but he was too exhausted and in too much pain to care. He fell into a deep sleep once again.
She lightly kissed his forehead, its heat cooler than her own lips. She smiled, perhaps his fever was ready to break. She laid down next to him, her hand on his chest and fell into a restless sleep.
In her fevered nightmare, the Wraith were outside, their whining ships passing overhead, searching for victims. They were safe here. Her beloved and herself. No Wraith would find them. Her father had built the shelter, expertly hiding the entrance so that only their family would be able to locate it. Years had only made the already hard to find entrance, even more invisible. They were safe here...they would wait til she was sure it was safe from Wraith and roving eyes. No one would take him away from her. Not this time! She would keep him safe.
The villagers were not exactly strangers, but were more like new allies. Colonel Sheppard and his team had forged a friendly alliance with possible trade possibilites earlier in the week while seeking permission to explore the planet. After a number of mishaps on other planets, it was prudent to make sure the locals were aware and approved of their exploratory intentions.
They were friendly and seemed genuinely concerned for the missing men. With no leads, it was crucial to have the villagers input into what may have happened.
Lorne and Teyla returned to the village for any information they could muster to help in their search. It was like the Colonel had evaporated into thin air.
"Your ship crashed to the east, in a field? Sounds like that may be where the recently widowed Uliana Ancovali lives. She is a lovely young woman who recently lost her husband. Poor girl tried her darndest to heal her mate after he was bitten by a strathe." Teyla could see the village elder Tomas, also still felt grief at the loss of the young man.
" A strat-he? What is that?" Lorne asked, his spidey sense rearing up. They still had men out in the field.
"Its a poisonous snake that has a shaker on its hind end. Shakes it right before it strikes. Once bitten, there be no cure. Death follows quickly and it is not an easy end. Uliana brought Keon to the healer in town as quick as she could, but like I say, the bite is fatal. You must warn your men to be careful around the wooded areas. Tomas frowned. "You think Uliana has something to do with Colonel Sheppard, don't you?!"
Lorne and Teyla passed discreet looks to one another. Lorne moved away to key his ear com so that he could warn those searching to watch out for the snake which sounded lke the Pegasus version of a rattlesnake.
Meanwhile, Teyla asked " Tomas, both are missing. Is there somewhere Uliana may have taken Colonel Sheppard?"
Tomas was offended. "Uliana is a good person...kind and gentle. You are suggesting that she has abducted your man, a deed of an unstable person! Uliana might be a grieving widow but she is not unstable! I will vouch for her personally!
Teyla knew Tomas was insulted that one of his own was under suspicion, she needed to be careful.
"Tomas, we are not suggesting anything. But, you must admit the circumstances are more than coincidental. Both missing from the same area. I must ask again if there is a place Uliana may have taken the injured Colonel, other than the house?"
Tomas thought for a moment before answering. " There is a shelter on the property, a shelter built to hide from the Wraith. It is well hidden. Its location is a well kept secret, only known by the family...to insure it would never be compromised in the event of an attack.
Lorne relayed the information to his search teams, specifically to Ronon. If they had any chance of finding this place, Ronon was there best bet. Trying to find the Colonel by his sub-Q transmitter had been a bust. And an underground bunker would explain the lack of signal.
TBC