CHAPTER FOUR
John and Rodney took off in the Jumper to do a planet-wide scanner they returned, they found Polan and Ronon standing shoulder to shoulder, waiting for them.
"Well?" Ronon asked.
"Nothing," John replied with a heavy sigh. "Polan's tribe is the only pocket of survivors on this entire planet."
Shaking his head, Polan breathed something softly that the translator rendered as a curse. "We feared as much. But... we had hoped not."
The Jumper suddenly rose slightly, and Rodney's voice boomed from it. "Polan, with your permission, I am bringing back two, maybe three people to help me. I have a hunch about the water, how to save it, but we need to test that hunch. So, I'm bringing back help."
Polan tilted his head in permission, and the Jumper flew back toward the Gate, leaving John standing there.
Once the Gate had shut down, Ronon tilted his head, indicating they should return to the tribe. As they walked, Ronon said, "Got the people squared away."
"Oh, yeah?" John asked, looking over at Polan. "What did you decide?"
Polan smiled sadly. "We are going to survive by becoming part of the Athosian Confederation. Teyla has assured Koba there is plenty of room and cropland on New Lantea for all."
"Teyla's right," Ronon said. "And their intermarriage policies will allow you as a people and a culture to survive."
John smiled at him as he told Polan, "And if anyone would know about that? It's Ronon. His people were all but wiped out – there are only a handful of survivors. Less than your tribe."
Ronon confirmed this with a sad nod, and Polan returned it with a smile. "I have more hope now than I did when I woke today."
"There you go," John smiled.
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Two hours later, John's radio chirped. "Sheppard."
"We're back," Rodney said.
"Great! You brought friends, I'm hoping?"
Rodney grinned as he glanced to the co-pilot's seat. "I've got Radek and Miko with me. We're going to run a small-scale experiment, then ramp it up to large-scale."
"What experiment?" John replied. "What hypothesis are you testing?"
"We're going to see if the Adastalanian creature can survive in New Lantea's ocean. If it can -"
However Rodney was going to finish that sentence was lost forever, when a sneeze suddenly erupted from an empty bench seat in the Jumper's cargo hold.