Chapter 4: Bring a Spar Upon 'er
John hurried up the hill, keeping his gaze everywhere. His head still swam, and he stumbled as he tried to negotiate toward the spot where Rix had pointed.
"What the hell, Rix," he muttered, trying to find the secret base. "Where are you guys?" He tried the radio again, calling for McKay and Teyla without response.
When he awoke, Sheppard had found himself alone. He'd struggled wake up, looking hopelessly for Ronon. Only the stupid bird remained, pooping and throwing seeds everywhere. It said "Balls" repeatedly, looking directly at him.
Finally, the pub owner arrived, helping him to his feet. Sheppard tried to ask him questions, but the man just pointed to his ears and shook his head. He brought John a glass of water and sat him down as Sheppard tried to clear his head. He was alive. That was something. Ronon wasn't here. That was bad.
He did a quick assessment as the bird croaked out "Bite it!" and "More! Stuff it in! Stuff it hard!" and again, "Balls".
He was missing his weapons. This wasn't good.
Some of the townspeople showed up, ushered in by the pub owner. They told him that Ostego's people had taken Ronon – they didn't know where. They were laying low and just wanted to go back to their homes.
He asked where Rix would be, and they looked as if they were deciding what to say, and finally, one of them pointed the way – up a trail that led to the cliffs. And then they went away. Just the deaf owner remained. He gave the bird some seeds and it just knocked them down and said, "Screw you, dick head," which didn't seem very nice.
The owner just smiled and patted the bird on the back. It said, "Shove it hard!" which was another bad idea.
Sheppard thought about townspeople. If they could give up Rix's location so quickly to a stranger, would they have done the same to Ostego?
Sheppard stumbled to his feet. The owner gave him a glance, but Sheppard waved him away. He moved out of the pub as the bird blared out a smokey, "Balls!" again and again.
The streets were empty as if everyone had gone to ground in preparation for a battle.
He had to find Teyla and Rodney. He had to find Ronon. Where had they taken him? He had to find Rix and his stupid ship so that they could get airborne and truly search for Dex. They weren't going to be able to cross the canyon without that ugly gateship and they weren't going to be able to get past Ostego without help.
Where the hell was the Ironspot?
On cue, a ship shimmered out of nothing above him. Sheppard tried to find his weapon and cursed when the holster was empty. Not the Ironspot. It was gray, not rusty red. It could be any of Ostego's pirate brigade. Now what? He let out a breath as Rix waved back at him.
The ship was smaller and darker than the Ironspot. It still had the weird hybrid additions but lacked the ridiculous crane. It came down quickly beside him and Sheppard was pounding on the hatch in a moment.
He grimaced as the hatch opened and only Rix appeared within.
"Where are the others?" Sheppard demanded as he stormed inside, looking at the familiar interior – similar but different from the Ironspot. This one was decorated in grays and greens.
"Hey, John," Rix said. "Something big. Something big is going on."
"Rodney and Teyla?" John asked urgently.
"Oh, they're safe as history." Rix assured. "The hanger is protected. The Old Ones built it so that it can't be easily found."
"We're going there now," Sheppard said, barging forward. "Your guy Ostego might already know where they are."
Rix made a face. "Ostego is not 'my guy'," he said. "Listen," Rix said. "There's something else. Ronon…"
"What about him?" John said, turning toward the redhead pirate.
"It's bad," he said, his words coming quickly. "I just spotted him. He's Talgoed! They've got him Talgoed!"
"What the hell is that?" Sheppard spat back.
Rix closed his eyes for a moment, as if wondering why it was so hard to get these people to understand him. "He's tied."
"Tied where?"
"To the gate!" Rix said, gesturing as if tying knots. "He's talgoed! Tied to the gate." He paced in the cramped cargo area of the weird ship. "I was out looking for you when I spotted him. It's bad."
John rolled this idea around in his head, frowning as an image came to mind. "In the gate?" he asked. When Rix nodded, he added, "So, what happens if someone activates it?"
Rix, his hand still held up as if he was tying things, jerked his hands apart. "MAATAUW!" he said.
"I'm taking this ship," he said. "Can you get back to the others."
Rix looked crestfallen. "You can't take the Smudge. I just got it operational again. I'm not really sure if she's totally makie."
Sheppard moved quickly to the cockpit. The controls were mostly like a jumper, with some extra cogs and wheels.
"Can you get back to the others," Sheppard repeated.
"We're very near them," Rix told him. "Just over that ridge, and the Ironspot is there."
Sheppard asked, "Anything I need to know?" He'd been able to get a short demonstration on the earlier flight. Rix showed him a few things and made sure he understood about a certain set of controls that would spread a smokescreen and another one that he called 'the Wraith surprise."
"What the hell is that?"
"Hologram," Rix said. "The projectors used to be on the planet Marne, but I grabbed them the last time I was back. I mean, the treasure was gone so there was no reason to keep them there."
"That rain forest planet? The Wraith dart projector?" When Rix nodded, John shook his head in disbelief. "Okay, how many ships to you have?"
"Three, including this one."
"So, Rodney can fly the other one," Sheppard decided.
And he laid out a plan.
{O}[0]{O}
Rodney was curled on his side, clutching his arm to his chest, breathing in tortured gasps. Teyla touched him gently, "Rodney, are you okay?" she asked.
"No!" he spat out. "I am not okay! He nearly pulled my arm off. It hurts. Oh God, it hurts so much. He kicked me where I got shot before. It's healed, but it's sensitive." He stopped to gasp again, breathing through his teeth. "My shoulder… I wish I could've gotten to my Baretta. If I could've, I'd…" he stopped talking and just gasped.
Slowly, carefully, Teyla helped McKay sit up on the floor, talking quietly to him as she adjusted the sling, tightening it to ensure it kept the arm still. She could easily see the lump at his shoulder – it was much worse than before. She felt his fingers to ensure that they were still warm.
Rodney hissed in pain as she tried to make it better. A quick jerk wasn't going to fix it this time. They needed Dr Keller.
"Get working," Dixon said. "You have three hands. If your extra hands aren't helping, I can dispatch her and get her out of the way."
"No, no," McKay said. "She'll help me. We got this." He looked at Teyla, his eyes wide as he continued to breathe hard. "We can do this."
"Yes," Teyla assured darkly. "We certainly will."
She leaned beside him as they worked, helping to keep him upright. She could feel him trembling, panting from time to time. Rodney was giving her the instructions as she moved crystals from one place to another. It seemed like busy work to her as Rodney kept looking toward the man who'd attacked him.
Dixon was walking back and forth in the cargo area, keeping an eye on them. Dillon and Jaycee stayed just outside, obviously ready to jump in and offer some another beating for Teyla, but they didn't seem to want to chance it. The other three men milled about, bored.
Teyla wanted to take them down, all of them, but there were too many.
Rodney glanced at the cargo-hold of the gateship and drew in a breath as he returned his attention to the controls. "Do you see that button, under the console?" he asked quietly.
Teyla couldn't see it, but once she twisted her head to check underneath, she could see the recessed button. "Yes," she said quietly.
"Remember how Rix got away from us?" McKay whispered. "When someone stupidly let him go see his ship while we still had it under our control?"
Teyla smiled.
"You'll push it when I tell you to," Rodney said, glancing back to the man. "We need to wait until Dixon goes outside. It should stun everyone outside of the hatch."
"He may not move," Teyla said.
"It might not knock him out otherwise," Rodney said. "I think it just affects people who are outside…"
"Enough whispering!" Dixon shouted, moving toward them, his gun still aimed at Teyla. "You don't seem to learn, do you? We'll see how you do with no working hands."
Dillon and Jaycee made a move to re-enter the ship.
Teyla leaned forward and pushed the button.
There was a strange "WOMP" sound, and her eardrums hurt as the sensation went through her. Outside, five people went limp, collapsing to the hanger floor.
Dixon staggered, surprised by the sensation. He didn't have any time to react, as Teyla was on him, pummeling him, kicking him, sending him to the ground – no sticks needed. He tried to fight. His arms went up to strike her, but Teyla was faster, stronger and angrier. Alone, without the help of the others, Dixon didn't have a chance and he went down without much trouble. Teyla stood over him, panting in anger, wishing he'd put up more of a fight – she really wanted more of a fight.
Dixon didn't move and was easily rolled down the ramp to join his unconscious companions. She wasn't gentle. She closed the hatch to keep anyone from trying to get back in.
Rodney made a soft laugh and then, "I guess he didn't know about the button."
Teyla nodded, brushing the hair from her face. "It would appear that Rix has made enhancements to his ships that others do not have."
She hurried back to Rodney, who was sitting up, but looking miserable. "We must return to Atlantis now," she said.
"Good idea," Rodney returned. "Where do you think Rix went?''
That was an excellent question. "We'll leave without him, but we need to find the others," Teyla proclaimed, not trusting the man. Carefully, she helped Rodney into the pilot seat. McKay showed her some of the controls, how to turn on the shield, and how to activate the cloak. He didn't expect her to fly it, did he? He added, "This is the 'push' that Rix talked about."
"What does that mean?" Teyla asked.
"It's interesting," Rodney said, bowing his head. "It's a little like nitrous oxide. Feed a little of that into a combustion engine and – pow!" he winced and gasped. Teyla looked at him in concern and he said, "You go very fast for a short period. You just need to make sure that the cloak and the shield are off when you do it. I think it's a one-at-a-time situation. Seems like using the 'push' drains the power on this thing. I really need to explore this further."
A rapping on the back of the ship caused both to jump.
"Hey," Rix called out, "It's me! Rix Mills! Wow! You found the merry sleeper, huh? Who beat up Dixon? Must have been lovely Teyla. Good job. He's bad news. Let me in. I have big news!"
Teyla opened the hatch.
"It's time to go," Rix said. "They have Ronon! They have him!"
"What?" McKay shouted and started to stand, wincing and regretting the exclamation.
"What did they do to Ronon?" Teyla asked urgently.
Rix hefted Ronon's blaster, trying to hold it harmlessly as he shuffled in with their other weapons. "Dixon and Dillon had your stuff." He dropped the weapons on the rear couch.
"Where's Ronon? " Teyla asked again as she retrieved her gun and holstered it. "And John."
"John's fine, but Ronon - It's bad. He's talgoed, he's tied up in front of the gate," Rix told them. "It's a real hoxey hoddle! We have get this un-tubbered. We need to go outside so you can talk to John."
McKay made a heavy sigh at the thought of moving, but Rix was already in the co-pilot seat.
"So, I take it he wasn't able to parlay with them?" McKay said.
"I told you it wouldn't work. It's time to move out," Rix said, as the Flicker started to hover and then quickly moved over the unconscious pirates, through the illusion wall and into daylight. The change from the dim hanger to the bright outdoors made McKay and Teyla blink.
Immediately, Teyla activated her radio. "Colonel Sheppard," she called urgently. "What is our plan for Ronon?"
Sheppard replied quickly. "I take it Rix filled you in?"
"Talgoed," McKay said. "So, how do we get him un-talgoed?"
"I've got my eyes on him and I'm not leaving here until we have him free."
"How does he look?"
"Pissed off," Sheppard said, then in a quiet voice he muttered, "Don't worry, big guy, we're coming." There was no response, so Ronon didn't have his radio anymore. Sheppard added, "Rix says he has another ship," Sheppard started. "So, with this ship and the Ironspot, we'll have three."
"I have more than that!" Rix said excitedly, he gestured for the sake of Rodney and Teyla to the ships that sat outside the hanger. "I've picked up three more. Fair and square by besting their pilots."
Teyla gave Rix a look. "You mean to say that Dr. McKay and I won them. We are the ones to who bested those people."
Rodney looked at Teyla in surprise at that declaration.
"So, one for each of you? And some spares." John stated. "Teyla, do you think you could fly one?'
"Teyla will be fine," Rix said. "She's flown the Ironspot. She's amazing."
"And Rodney gave me some instructions," she said, "But, we need to return to Atlantis as soon as possible. Dr. McKay needs to be in the infirmary."
Rodney cut in quickly, "But we have to free Ronon. We can't even get through the gate until we free him." He looked at Teyla, his eyes begging her to keep quiet, even as he leaned heavily on the dash.
"He is in pain," Teyla said evenly. "We need to return now."
"Yeah, hang in there, Rodney," Sheppard said. "Ronon has you fixed up pretty well. We'll be home soon. You'll be fine."
Teyla almost cut in to describe the new situation, but Sheppard kept talking. "We can't go home until we free Ronon. So, we'll disable the DHD so that no one activates it while Ronon is there. Rodney, you need to get that done first! Who knows if someone will suddenly decide to pay a visit – or if Ostego wants to call in more troops."
"Roger," McKay, nodding as he looked over the controls in front of him. "I can get that done."
"Teyla, you won't need to do much piloting. We just need you out there to distract and lead Ostego's crew away. Keep your shield up. The ships don't have a lot of offensive capabilities, but they have shields. Rix tells me that my ship puts up a smokescreen that fouls shields and cloaks. It's not really safe to hang around in that stuff either, so we have to be quick."
"It's pretty handy," Rix stated and then reminded. "But it's not really YOUR ship, is it?"
Sheppard didn't seem to hear him. "I'll put up a smoke screen by the gate. Then I'll land along with Rix. Rix says he can free Ronon with the Ironspot. The ropes are too high to cut him down by hand and we have to be fast, before the guards can react. With his crane deployed, Rix can't open the hatch, so I'll pick Ronon up. Mills, you said you can do this quick?"
"Super fast," Rix said. "I've seen how he's secured. I'll cut him out, bick-back."
"Just be sure you don't cut Ronon, bick-back," Sheppard returned.
Rix frowned. "Why would I do that?"
"Rodney, you'll then reset the DHD once we have Ronon free. Then everyone goes in a different direction," Sheppard instructed. "With your shields you should be okay. We'll draw away Ostego's ship, take a circular path back and go through the gate once we've gotten some distance from them. We'll rendezvous at P7M-883."
"Got it," Rodney responded.
"So, if you have three of Ostego's ships, that means he only has six remaining against the four of us?" Sheppard summarized. "I'm liking these odds better."
"And we have the darts!" Rix added. When McKay and Teyla gave him curious glances, he said, "On Marne, we had a security system of dart holograms."
"How can I forget," McKay moaned.
"I have the remaining projectors attached to the Smudge and the Ironspot. We can fly darts around them!"
"Aren't the other Bogachiel aware of the projectors?" Teyla asked.
Rix shrugged. "Maybe? In any case, they're on a random program and can be pretty distracting."
"Are we good?" Sheppard asked.
"We're good," Rodney responded.
"See you in the air," Sheppard said, sounding delighted.
The transmission ended, so Rix said to Teyla, "Okay, let's get you in a ship."
Teyla stood and started to follow Rix out of the Flicker. She paused to check on Rodney. "Will you be okay?" she asked as she felt his hand again, she frowned, not sure if his hand felt cooler. The color was still good. "Wiggle your fingers," she said, and he did, wincing.
"See," he said, "I'm fine." He smiled at her, trying to look confident, but his honest blue eyes betrayed him. "We have to save Ronon."
"Yes, we do. We could do it as easily with three ships instead of four, You can disable the DHD from my ship. It will help to have you with me, especially when I need to land."
Rodney sighed. "The landing is the trickiest part. But you landed the Ironspot."
"Poorly," Teyla told him.
"But it's Ronon," Rodney said quietly, trying to move his fingers again. "See, it's fine." He swallowed and said, "Do you know what would happen to him if the gate activated into him? He'd be torn to pieces. It would be awful. I can't…" Rodney looked haunted at the thought. "I could help stop that. Four ships against their six is still not enough."
"Are the Wraith Dart projections believable?"
"Disturbingly so," McKay said, "but we all need to be in this. I can do it," Rodney promised. "I'm not that hurt. It's just a dislocated shoulder, right? Nothing to worry about," he said and smiled wanly.
Teyla patted his hand, hoping that all would be well. "You really don't look well," she told him seriously.
"My stomach hurts," Rodney said, and laughed a little. "Just nerves. I always get nervous."
Teyla smiled, trying to look reassuring. "We'd best get started," she said.
Rodney nodded. "We can do this."
She left the Flicker and Rodney closed the hatch. She followed Rix to where he was standing near the other ships.
The Ironspot was just beyond where the three new ships rested, just outside hanger. They were as unusual as any of the other Bogachiel ships. One was black with white lines – the Night, another was pinkish with strange lightning patterns – the Pinkie. But Teyla's gaze fastened on the last one. She pointed to the sleekest and the fastest looking of the trio. It was orange and red in color, with wide ports at the front. "That one," Teyla said.
Rix whistled. "Good choice. That's the Ember." Rix pulled a device from his pocket and took a moment to do something to Pinkie. "Locked," he said. The Night seemed to confound him. "Dixon has some sort of anti-lock system," he said, annoyed, and then went with Teyla to the Ember.
They entered the ship and Rix showed her a few of the details and started turning on the controls. "Are you ready?" he asked.
"Very," Teyla said, running her hands over the control panel.
Behind them, Rodney was firing up the Flicker.
"Let's go!" Rix said. And so they went.