Daylight streamed in through the room that Colonel Sheppard and his team had stayed in that night. After assurances from Laneya that her son would be fine, she took them next door to the inn where she arranged a room for them. Teyla was gracious enough for the three of them as Ronan hadn't quite recovered from the boy calling them by their full names and knowing where they were from. The three had attempted to sleep, but Sheppard couldn't stop thinking that whatever 'blessings' the Ancients had given to this kid, he would be able to help them find something to help them locate Rodney.

As they ventured downstairs, the innkeeper pointed them towards a table.

"Young Ro should be over after your meal. Laneya tells me that he has begged his absence from the fields to help you. I hope that you are kind to him. The boy has had enough off-worlders betray his trust."

"We're just in search of information. If we don't find anything, then we'll just leave." Sheppard sighed as the innkeeper nodded his approval. The number of people who had warned them to be kind was now making sense. He wondered how many people had taken advantage of the gifts that the boy had. Too many it would seem. Looking over at Ronan, who was slowly eating his way through the bread on the table, he could see that his team had silently agreed that they would protect the boy while they could.

The door of the inn opened as they were finishing their food to reveal Ro. He nodded towards the three of them before approaching the innkeeper and grasping his hand, pulling in to his chest. Teyla had observed that this was both a form of friendship as well as respect. After a short conversation, Ro bowed his head slightly and approached the three of them. Colonel Sheppard could now see that his hair was pulled away from his face with what appeared to be a reed from a river. He was dressed in a light tan leather vest, with darker pants and what appeared to be thick leather boots. A colourfully woven sack hung off a shoulder.

"I have begged my absence from the harvest today. Are you prepared for the walk? It is not far, but the path is not easy." Ro's voice was much brighter than the previous evening when they had met him. He was more collected and definitely more relaxed. Teyla nodded and they got up, following Ro into the bright daylight. Teyla walked alongside Ro, while Colonel Sheppard and Ronan brought up the rear.

"Thank you for your assistance Ro. I must confess that I am surprised that you are willing to help us."

"It is well with me Teyla. I am afraid I must beg you forgive me. To see you in person was a surprise."

"You were expecting us?" Teyla asked, hoping to understand what the boy had experienced. Sheppard was also very interested in what the boy would say.

"It is difficult for words. I dream and I see visions. I have seen great and terrible things. But I have seen much that brings me joy." Ro thought for a moment while they walked. He turned his head to glance back at Ronan. "I have seen Ronan Dex seek vengeance for Sateda." He looked at Teyla, then back at the path. "I have seen Teyla defend her honour when accused of betrayal against her people to the Wraith." Sheppard picked up his pace slightly. "And I have seen John Sheppard wake the grand city of the Ancestors from its slumber beneath the waters."

They had arrived at the base of a rocky outcropping. Ro pointed towards a narrow path amongst the rock.

"We must climb along to reach deep into the trees. Come." Ro moved up towards the rocks and instinctively began to move up and along the outcropping. Sheppard followed next before Teyla.

"How long have you had these... visions Ro?" Although Sheppard was fit, between the narrow rocky ledge and the path leading higher above the trees, he needed something to keep his mind of falling.

"As long as I can recall"

"Doesn't that bother you?"

"It is a gift from the Ancestors. I accept that there is both good and bad."

"How much do you know about us three?"

"I see only what the Ancestors allow me to see. Calm your feelings John. I do not know everything."

"What about what you've been writing in those books. How did you learn to read that?" There was a long silence as they continued down the high and narrow path, clinging to the rocks. After a few minutes Sheppard was about to say something to change the subject, when Ro spoke.

"I cannot explain. There are things that I have always known. Since I was very small, I have been able to follow the stars. I have understood the inside of tools. I see the art of numbers and can see the solution. And I can read the language of the Ancestors. I do not know for what purpose these gifts have been given me. But I am glad to have been chosen."

A few minutes later Ro pointed down to a small gap in the trees that appeared to have been caused by a landslide.

"The path is down there."

"I thought we were on the path already." Ronan grumbled.

"Ronan" Teyla warned. They both heard a small chuckle from in front of them.

"It is close now. Calm your feelings."

The group eventually climbed down into the small clearing, following Ro into forest, seemingly following no path. They continued for a few minutes before the boy stopped and began looking around for something. He quickly found a relatively low branch on a thin tree and jumped at it, grabbing hold and snapping it off. He then began to suck on the end of the wood he had removed from the tree. He then smiled satisfied and offered the branch to Sheppard.

"The sap of the JinJin. It is very sweet." Sheppard took the branch is sniffed it. The smell reminded him pineapple. He could see the sap oozing out of the end of the branch. He slicked a little on his finger and put it in his mouth. It tasted like someone had somehow melded honey and pineapple, almost sickeningly sweet.

"That's a new one. It's good." Ro laughed at Sheppard's face as he offered the branch to Teyla who simply shook her head as Ronan grabbed it and sucked it dry.

"The JinJin, huh?" He said to the boy.

"It is good, Ronan."

"Yes, it is."

Ro pointed into the forest again and they continued on into the dense growth. After a long silence, Sheppard checked his watch. They had been traveling for almost 90 minutes. He longed for a wisecrack about the 'quickness' of the journey, but found none from his companions. Sheppard chuckled at himself as Ro stopped abruptly.

"What is it?"

"We have arrived."

The three looked around and all they could see was forest. Sheppard looked at Ro.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" The boy nodded.

"This is why others have been angry. The portal only appears for me."

"Okay then, where exactly does this portal appear?" Ro pointed at a thin tree with yellow patterns on its bark.

"It appears for me there."

Sheppard walked over to the tree and didn't see anything. He wiped off his brow, only then registering that he was sweating and looked at the tree. It almost looked as if the patterns on the bark were ancient lettering. He reached towards it, the waved his hand over the bark. What appeared to be a door appeared in front of him, startling him backwards. Ro was practically jumping with excitement.

"The portal opened for you. The Ancestors are smiling on you."

Teyla helped Colonel Sheppard up. "Do you believe that it responded to you?" Sheppard nodded.

"It's probably a security measure. It would only appear when activated by someone with the gene."

Ro gestured inside and entered, followed by Teyla, Ronan and the colonel. After they had all entered, Sheppard turned to see a doorway with a silvery puddle, similar to a stargate event horizon. He flipped on the light on his P90 and began to point it around. The architecture was incredibly familiar. It looked almost identical to the outpost in Antarctica, except that it appeared to be built into a mountain, as opposed to underneath the ice. Suddenly the entire cavern lit up. John turned around to see Ro sit forward on an Ancient Control Chair. Getting up, he walked over to a console and touched the controls, bringing up the database.

"Ro, do you mind if we look around a bit?"

The boy looked up at them and shook his head. "The Ancestors allowed you here. I will not stop you. Forgive me, I must continue my work." He reached into his sack and pulled out a large stack of leather sheets, along with a needle press resembling a Morse code tapper, and a glass bottle containing black ink. Teyla observed the care with which the boy began to copy out what was on the display onto the leather.

"He obviously cares deeply about this place, or he would not go through the effort of doing this." Sheppard agreed with Teyla on that.

"Come on, let's see what is around here."

The three quickly searched the outposts' rooms. Sheppard's initial assessment that the outpost was similar to the Antarctic one was quickly confirmed. There were a few scattered unidentifiable objects and Ronan had found the access hatch to the drone storage bay. From what they could tell, there was easily tens of thousands of drones, if not hundreds of thousands.

"There has to be a ZPM here." Sheppard said as they returned to the main room with the chair. "There's no other way for this place to still be powered without it. And there would be nowhere near enough power for the control chair."

"Perhaps we should ask Ro if he knows of one?"

Sheppard nodded and they quickened their pace.

"Ro!" The boy glanced up and quickly yelled in pain. He had pricked himself with his tools. He quickly pulled a sliver of cloth from his bag and wrapped his finger up. Sheppard felt a little guilty about causing that. "You okay, buddy?"

"It is nothing. I will be fine."

"Ro, do you know what powers this place?" Teyla asked.

The boy thought for a moment. "The crystal!" He excitedly began manipulating the consoles controls. He rapidly searched through screens of the database before stopping and pointing at the displayed text. "It is a powerful source of energy known as Potentia."

"Is there one of these Potentia here?"

Ro nodded and quickly stepped away from the console, walking over to the control chair. He approached one of the corners of the base and waved his hand over it. A glowing ZPM rose out of its slot. Sheppard could hardly believe his eyes. Ro frowned slightly.

"It does not look right." Sheppard looked at the boy, then back at the ZPM. It looked exactly the same as all of the others he had seen.

"What's wrong with it?" Ronan asked. Ro jumped into the chair and leant back, activating it. The ZPM slid back down into its slot. Above the chair appeared a hologram of a ZPM, along with a readout in Ancient about it.

"The Potentia is approaching a state called vacua." Sheppard could see where this was going.

"It's nearly depleted isn't it?"

"I am sorry John." Ro said. "The Potentia has been here for many cycles."

"Don't worry about it, there's nothing you could do."

"I wish that..." Ro stopped, the image above his head quickly changed to an overhead map of the stargate. "The Ring of the Ancestors has activated." He sat up suddenly and ran to gather his things into his sack. "We must return. Now." Sheppard put him hand on the boys shoulder.

"Whoa buddy, what's wrong? What did you see?"

"They have returned. The village is in danger." Sheppard could see the determination in the boys' eyes.

"Who are they?"

"The Genii!"

Sheppard's face hardened as he looked up at both Teyla and Ronan. Teyla was ready and Ronan pulled out his gun with a grim look on his face. Ro had finished packing and ran towards the portal to exit.

"We must hurry!"

"No argument here."

The group raced through the forest, Ro leading the way, with Colonel Sheppard's team guns at the ready running behind him. Despite moving as quickly as they could, Ronan was getting frustrated with how much time it was taking.

"Can't we use a faster way?"

"Forgive me, Ronan. This is the most direct path. There are rocks to be climbed still."

Ronan groaned at the thought of being delayed by climbing across the side of a mountain again. Privately, Sheppard and Teyla agreed, but they had little choice. When they arrived at the outcropping, Ro sprang up and grabbed the rocks, planting his feet briefly before springing across the rocky surface. There was no way for Sheppard's team to keep up, but they tried to move quickly to follow the boy. Minutes later, when they reached the end, Ro was crouched, sucking on the end of a JinJin branch. Sheppard was trying to catch his breath as the boy stood.

"You must love the taste of those things."

"The JinJin restores my strength." He pulled the branch from his mouth, discarding it. "The taste is helpful." He motioned for them to follow him again. "Come, we must hurry."

Once more the group took off back towards the village. At least this time, the terrain was more favourable for speed. As they approached, they heard shouting and threats being made. Sheppard stopped short of one of the buildings and carefully looked out around the corner. He could see that the Genii soldiers were storming in and out of buildings, searching for something. There appeared to be about eight of them.

"Sheppard, we should do something."

"Yes we should, there isn't many of them. Teyla, you and Ronan circle around. I'll come in from this side. Wait for an opening."

Teyla nodded and the pair raced around behind the buildings. Sheppard turned back to look around the building again. The Genii had pulled a woman from inside of the inn, while holding back the innkeeper at gunpoint. Sheppard's eyes widened when he realised that the woman was Laneya, Ro's mother. He tapped his radio.

"Sheppard to Ronan."

"Go ahead Sheppard, we're directly behind them."

"They've taken Ro's mother hostage."

"Can't we just take 'em out?"

"Maybe, let me see if I can distract them."

Before Sheppard could act, one of the Genii soldiers knocked Laneya down.

"Give it up old woman, where is your child?" She said nothing as people pleaded in the background for them to let her go. "We know that you're hiding him, where is he?!"

"Let her go!" Ro burst from behind the building, Sheppard following closely behind him, holding him back. "Just let her go!" Sheppard stood in front of Ro, his P90 pointed at the Genii. The soldier looked up and smirked at him.

"Ah, Colonel Sheppard. Nice to see you, although it appears that you have something I want."

"I don't think so."

"Surely you must realise that you are outnumbered. Your Doctor McKay would be able to tell you that... Oh wait, he can't. He's dead!" The soldier laughed at this fact. "Hand over the kid Sheppard, or we'll kill the old woman."

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

"Oh, and why not?"

Sheppard quickly tapped his ear. "Now Ronan!"

Sheppard opened fire with his P90, while red blasts shot out from Ronan's blaster. Cover fire came from Teyla on the far side of the village. The Genii soldiers fell quickly, but not before the commander had fired his pistol at Laneya. She groaned as she fell to the earth. The firefight was over in less than a minute, but the damage was done. Ro ran over to his mother, crying bitter tears.

"Mother. Stay with me. Please stay." He held his mother's hand to his forehead, then to his chest, sobbing. "I am not strong enough. I am not strong."

Sheppard rushed over pulling the field dressing out of his vest. The bullet had hit her in the left side of her chest. He did his best to apply the dressing. Ronan was busy checking that the Genii would no longer pose a threat. Teyla rushed over to assist the Colonel.

"Colonel, we should take her back with us, Doctor Beckett can help her." Ro looked up at Teyla, his face already red with tears. "Ro, our friend is a very skilled doctor, he may be able to help your mother."

"Go with them Ro." Sheppard looked up to see that a crowd had gathered. The innkeeper put his hand on Ro's shoulder. "Laneya has never taken to off-worlders, but she trusted you to them. If they can help, let them."

Ro nodded and looked at Colonel Sheppard. Sheppard could almost feel his heart breaking at the boy's tear stained face.

"I cannot lose Mother. Please help."