STARGATE ATLANTIS

TO SEE THE SUN IN WINTERTIME

Chapter Nine

SGA SGA SGA

Bra'taan was frightened.

He was hurriedly repairing a stubborn leak from the storms penetrating force on the ancient walls. A build-up of water had escaped to stream through a hole made at the bottom of the aging, original outer wall. This secret supply of precious water could not be found out for he knew no-one would be particularly happy with him keeping this precious commodity for himself and hidden from view…so, he was especially frightened. If they found out about his hidden cavern and pool of water – then they might also find his equally hidden hoard of jewels and other priceless objects! That wouldn't do.

He worked for a while on the quick repair, watching his bejewelled fingers frantically pat some disturbed sand and earth into the, thankfully, small enough hole in the caverns wall. The usual still calmness inside vibrated with a thousand voices of nature's choir as they found their way in through tiny cracks and fallen boulders to share their song of the passing storm. To Bra'taan's ears is was a frightening sound.

Bra'taan didn't like sharing his space with anybody or anything else. "Be quiet!" He shouted to the invisible forces. Then…

His hand grabbed his chest when an insistent beat against his breast bone heralded the arrival of someone entering into the Hall of Light via his alert device pinned to his shirt. Bra'taan quickly flung his robes aside and watched as his usually solid green brooch now shimmered and swayed with the dance of a purple coalition. Someone must be near his secret door. Instantly he was puzzled. He had not seen these colours merge before.

Creeping away from the makeshift repairs, Bra'taan walked softly in his finest drokfo leather shoes over the fallen stones, and made his way to his secret door.

A one-way window that showed him everything outside the caverns, streamed with the brightest of light. Bra'taan stood up on his toes and looked out to see a man wrapped in his cloak, a turban hiding his features being shunted forward by a force behind him, but it was the familiar figure in purple that walked in front of the men that made the hackles on the back of his neck rise – Chuaann.

The purple clad envoy had obviously thought to bring him someone of interest. Yet, how? Chuaann should know only who HE invites can enter the Hall with him. What was this superiority of his all of a sudden to come here uninvited? And anyway – he was under the impression no-one could enter without the brooch's power that he selfishly wore on his person. This was too upsetting for him. He steeled himself for Chuaann's next move.

Bra'taan, swallowed. He felt he was losing control of everything. He honestly wished these 'Games' had not come about now – too many people milling about were rocking the foundations of his whole world. Bra'taan, though, could not grant Chuaann his attentions just yet; he could not be seen here and would have to wait until they hopefully passed by and realised it was just an empty hall. Then he would figure out how they could have accessed the Hall of Light in the first place. He grabbed his bejewelled chest and breathed out slowly.

At that, his 'secret' door swung open in a sure way, most unlike his own usual weak attempts which were often a struggle to fully pass through as the heavy doors almost never fully opened wide.

Eyes; round like owls and heart beating so as to escape his chest, Bra'taan moved to face whomever also had the ability to enter the secret Hall and cavern.

He stopped dead.

The man that was roughly shoved through the door space into his cavern by Chuaann was the prisoner he had thought killed weeks earlier. Struck dumb he did not know what to think of the situation. Slowly he pointed a finger at his own guards that held John Sheppard still.

"What is the meaning of this?" He first bellowed at them, before turning his glare towards Chuaann. "I thought I told you to never follow me into the Hall of Light!"

Chuaann laughed then. The unnerving sound exasperated Bra'taan further.

"I didn't want to until now. Looking around I can see WHY you didn't want anybody here. You are quite the selfish man, aren't you, Bra'taan?"

Bra'taan was livid. How dare he speak to him like that! He stepped forward and took hold of the prisoner's chin; ignoring Chuaann for now. "You? I thought I had disposed of you."

Chuaann dug his elbow into John's side stopping his reply. "Let's just say you should never rule out the survival of this man. Still shouldn't." He muttered the last bit.

John cocked his head and glowered at him.

"Guards stand by the door." Bra'taan ordered. They took a quick look at Chuaann, but soon retreated backwards and stood at the still open door. Try as he might, for some reason, Bra'taan could not imagine it shut.

"Care to explain yourself, Envoy?" His bejewelled fingers clenched and unclenched constantly. He disregarded the prisoner for now.

"Nothing to tell really. Nothing to give you. Just to let you know, Bra'taan that you are in fact – a nothing!"

"I will have your head for this. Your people will…"

"My people will be here within minutes, and then I will take delight in watching your eyes opening wide in realisation as to who they are and as to why I have put up with your petty and greedy eyes for so long whilst I arranged these 'Games' for them. Your pursuit of wealth and trinkets has been your downfall for the last time…"

"STOP!" Bra'taan shouted, finally finding strength to react.

"…I will do no such thing." Chuaann countered, looking at him with a huge smile splitting his face; eyes burning bright with superiority - and taking Bra'taan's dominance somewhat.

"Just tell me how you managed to enter here."

Chuaann pushed John forward. It was then that Bra'taan noticed the small weapon pushed into the side of the returned prisoner. No wonder he had not tried to escape.

"You really should fully check what prisoners you have you know. Some are worth looking into. Say, if they had a natural Ancient gene for instance. Stronger than anybody's"

Chuaann watched as realisation set in with Bra'taan. "This man you left for dead has had more lives saved than you could ever know. Leaving him for dead, is not wise. You should have killed him for sure. HE has the greatest gene. He is dangerous. Too dangerous for your little selfish secret. He won't stop until he saves everyone from certain death – his friends and strangers alike."

"Just what DO you mean, Chuaann? Stop talking in riddles!"

"He means, his friends, the Wraith, will be here any minute now. He arranged these 'Games' to have a planet worth of fodder to be swooped up in one go, you bloody idiot!" John had had enough; he imaged the doors shut with a huge bang. Making the two guards that remained inside the cavern jump out of the way in time. They stepped aside to await further orders.

"You did that? You?" Bra'taan cried in awe. "How?"

"He has a very strong gene." Chuaann repeated. "How do you do it, Bra'taan?" He quickly knocked John to the ground by a solid shove on his shoulder whilst quickly throwing aside the balding man's many robes until he saw the swirling-coloured jewelled brooch.

The two men pushed and pulled but soon Chuaann was the victor. He brandished his prize in the air for a second before attaching it to his chest. Wary of John starting to rise he pointed to a guard to keep a weapon on him at all times. He felt the brooch's hidden strength. No wonder the loathsome man wanted to hang on to it. He could feel it had more to it than one trick.

Bra'taan anxiously swiped his bald head which suddenly felt clammy. Nonono!

"Give it back. It is mine."

Chuaann laughed. "You will not need it soon enough. You have repulsed me. It will be a pleasure to watch you as your wealth disappears right in front of your eyes. Your hunger for all of what you have kept to yourself will be your undoing. You…"

"Lieutenant!" John interrupted his tirade.

Strangely, both Chuaann and Bra'taan remained stupefied by his interruption of their verbal sparring match.

"Look, pretty soon no-body is going to be a winner here." John looked at Chuaann. "You, too, you had better believe it"

Chuaann moved fast and grabbed John's robes, bunching them up in his hands and shaking him. "Do not interrupt me again, Colonel! Your life will be distinguished too – at last. I will take pleasure in watching."

"Will you, Aiden?"

Now Bra'taan was confused. Could it be that these two actually knew each other?

Lost in a flash of memories including, Earth, Atlantis and his own carved out life in Pegasus, Aiden took a second too long to keep the dominant stance. John moved. He shoved Chuaann to the ground.

The guard had a weapon trained on him. Easy enough to take off him. John feigned a fall. As he dropped, he spun round and kicked the man in his shins. Wobbling slightly, the guard raised his arm to shoot, but John used the momentum to punch him in his kidneys and chopped down onto his wrist freeing the gun when the man's hand spasmed open in surprise. He was young and inexperienced. John easily twisted the gun up and he knocked the butt end into his head so he fell down and hopefully he'd be out of it for a few minutes. He did not want to necessarily kill him.

But John's luck ran out then. He felt the familiar all body pain of a wraith stun. It enveloped his entire body and caused a slow-motion fall of pins and needles to the ground where he landed face down onto one cheek. His body frozen, all he could move were his eyes; eyes that watched as Chuaann's booted feet came into view before he lost consciousness. The younger man crouched down and looked at him shaking his head. "I will have to see your death through this time, Colonel. You truly are too dangerous to keep alive. My Queen will need to see you first though. You are my ticket to freedom."

John knew he was blacking out. He frantically tried to see where Bra'taan was. He had to come round and help his fellow residents. With a body totally numb, he was relieved when Bra'taan came into his line of sight just as he was closing down. Dark, swirling lights pulled at him like a lasso. He had to convey something to the man to turn him around. He opened his mouth trying to speak.

Bra'taan looked unsure what to make of this turn of events. He chose to walk over to the prisoner and follow Chuaann's lead of watching as he slipped into unconsciousness. He stooped down to watch. John's eye lids fluttered and his mouth gaped open like a fish on dry land. He was trying to say something. Curiosity about the bandaged faced man's last words, Bra'taan moved in closer then jerked back when he understood what he had been trying to say. He clutched a brooch free chest and stuttered for breath himself. He had heard him whisper, "Aliass."

His sister. How did the man know her?

Next, he felt his body tautly shiver with a wraith stun himself. He landed on the ground, roughly parallel to the prisoner, and watched over his waist as Chuaann also shot the two guards.

His last conscious view was of Chuaann walking to the guards and shooting them twice more for good measure, before also pointing and shooting the weapon twice more at the prisoner. His body bucked slightly and lay still.

A cold feeling swept through his body, and Bra'taan actually felt a tear fall down his cheek; before he saw the weapon turn on him; before his world fell away. Then he fell into blackness.

SGA SGA SGA

Teyla worked her way through the crowd. First, she spied her opponent from the other day. She grabbed her shoulders and told her who she really was and that she had to run; what was about to happen. That the storm had been the least of their troubles. Her whole demeanour had been as sincere as she could muster.

Teyla watched the woman take in her news and witnessed the moment in her eyes that she believed her. Relief poured over her, and together with the woman's friends also taking in her story, they frantically spread out and tried to inform others.

Some resisted and shoved her aside. Most; shaken as they were already with the unsettling storm, decided that the time had definitely come to leave. In a way Teyla's direct approach back-fired on her, as, unwittingly she was causing a lot of confusion and chaos and panic amongst the people. Unrest was settling in. She begged them not to cry out, but when she heard, 'Wraith!' being shouted out, she knew she didn't have long to do this subtly.

Crowds started surging towards the exit gates. The flags that had proudly heralded the games, now hung limply in their golden casings after the effects of the destructive winds.

The whole scene in front of her was spiralling out of control. Teyla desperately missed her team and John's instructions. She felt hopelessly alone. Suddenly she thought she heard her name being called. Spinning around, the glorious sight of Shebo, his sons and a frightened looking, Aliass, were within reach.

Aliass took her face in her hands and wiped away some of the stinging sand. "My dear, my dear. I am glad I was so close by!"

"Aliass, I am so happy to see you, but sad that you have had to come here."

"I knew this day would come, Teyla. It is not your fault. Or John's. My brother was always going to get his comeuppance. I am just saddened he is taking so many with him." She bowed her head.

"Where is John?" Shebo asked as he hugged them both together in his broad arms. Teyla stepped back. "I fear he had got himself captured again as I have not found him yet."

Shebo slowly shook his head. "We will spread out and find him. Your other friends?"

Teyla pointed to the inner walls. "Still in there, I think."

Teyla watched numbly as Shebo took command of his many sons and friends and watched as they interlaced with ease into the confused and surging crowds.

"We have heard that Chuaann has also not been seen for a time. For him to not be in control is unusual. His lead torturer went off on his own, I believe. He has run like a coward with a band of men. If you come with me, Teyla. I think the time has come to infiltrate the prison. Look, as I speak, I see there are several disturbances." He smiled worriedly, but with a gentle gleam in his eyes. "That is our cue to rescue your friends, is it not? And what a surprise awaits them!"

Teyla felt butterflies in her stomach, but managed to smile.

"Let's go. I shall keep a watch for your large friend, and the one that never stops talking."

Teyla swiped fallen hair over her eyes away from her face and grinned at his description of whom they reminisced about. "That's them!" She put her arm through Aliass's arm. "We will also find your brother." She said with determination.

"Humph." Was all that Aliass said in return.

"Oh, my, Teyla! Is that the tall one?"

Teyla, as if in slow motion, turned to see where Shebo pointed. She started to walk quickly in the direction for it was Ronon. A slightly battered, Ronon. But a Ronon in full protection mode, as he hauled somebody along at an elbow.

She stopped in his path and watched as he had to stop his hurried walk and see who dared not move out of his way.

"Tey… Teyla?" He breathed, dropping his arm off the turban clad man's elbow, and taking a step closer.

"Ronon. It is me. I am okay. I did not die that day."

Ronon rushed her and picked her wholly up into his arms, hugging her whilst he made a strangled noise into her neck. "Teyla!"

Teyla punched his back as she saw Rodney standing behind Ronon with his mouth agape – finally ridding himself of his overly large turban.

"Put me down, you oaf!" Teyla half laughed; half cried. "I am also happy to see you." She brought his forehead down to hers and noticed his face was wet. She wiped it clear and smiled into his eyes. "I will tell you all about it later… Rodney!"

Ronon stood aside as he watched Teyla wrap herself around an unusually quiet, Rodney.

"Are you okay?" He asked of her. Teyla nodded and performed the forehead ceremony with Rodney also. His face was dry, but his eyes were full of water. He quickly wiped the tears away. "We don't know where Carson is, and we lost, John in death. I am sorry." His voice broke, and Ronon put a beefy hand on his shoulder for support.

Teyla smiled so wide her delight reached her eyes with the good news she about to give them. "No, no."

Taking one each of their hands in both of hers, she squeezed tightly. "No…" She repeated, "…they are also alive. John is alive!" At this announcement, Teyla turned to Shebo and Aliass. "…thanks to these two good friends of ours. They took me and then John into their homes, and saved our lives. Meet Shebo, and his wife, Aliass."

Ronon and Rodney surprised themselves by hugging their new friends, and expressing their thanks, before Ronon could not stand it any longer. "But, John and Carson. Where are they?"

Teyla smiled. "During the storm, Carson managed to escape somehow."

"Yes, we saw the wall he was standing near collapse. Good for Carson" Rodney whooped.

Teyla bit her lip. "We spotted him in the turmoil after the storm receded slightly. We gave him our drokfo and John told him to either get to the 'gate 'or 'jumper and bring back help.

"We heard from new prisoners that gate travel was suspended from allowing any crafts through weeks ago now. I suspect it was so people could not easily escape when the wraith arrive...and stopping Lorne from coming too!"

"That would explain their delay in coming for us. You know about the Wraith?" Teyla asked.

"Figured it out." Ronon said. "With Aiden here and all…"

"He hurt John. I suspect he has him again."

Ronon's eyes grew dark. "Hurt him, how?"

"He threw sand fire in his face; he …"

"I'll kill him."

"I think he has captured John again. You must also understand that our capturer; his name is Bra'taan. He is Aliass's brother. They might be together."

Aliass squirmed slightly, "No longer is he my brother! He is a monster that must be stopped."

Shebo stepped up beside his wife. "We will swap stories later, we must save, John from…"

At that, the gnawing feeling in the back of her head she had had creeping up on her for a while now, made Teyla fall to her knees in pain. She clutched her head. "Wraith, they are here!"

"There is no more time. We must force our way in to the Hall of Light."

Ronon steadied Teyla as she rose, sweat dampening her hair. "Hall of Light?" Rodney asked.

"My brother he has a secret cavern. It is large enough to hide many. John wanted to hide people there…but it can only be accessed by my brother. He found something years ago; a brooch. Kept it to himself. He didn't even allow his family access. I suspect that's where Chuaann would take him if he was caught."

"Chuaann?"

"Aiden's 'Wraith' name." Teyla spat.

Ronon growled and spun about. "I'm not waiting any longer to go find him."

"I agree." Shebo walked quickly towards the inner walls with his wife held tightly around her waist. They set a fast pace

"I can't believe it; I can't believe it!" Rodney chanted as they hurried. "You are alive…John is also alive. You put us through hell you know!"

Teyla squeezed his arm. "I am so happy to see you both, Rodney." She found time to grin at his face full of disbelief. Next, she glanced at Ronon. His face was set; determined. He had a job to do, and that was find his friend and commander….and probably kill Aiden once and for all, no matter what his friend asked of him. He had hurt John too many times; physically and emotionally. In Ronon's eyes, he would not hurt him ever again.

Teyla bit her lip and joined the others in forcing themselves through the ever growing frightened crowd.

As they neared the Hall, the sky turned darker and they feared another bout of the high winds. Teyla stiffened and came to a halt. Ronon, who had been watching her out of the corner of his eye, pulled her to a stop. "Wraith?"

"Aarggh... It hurts."

They started towards the others again. "No, you don't!" Ronon warned for he knew what she was thinking."

"I wouldn't have time to use my strength against her, Ronon. Do not worry. I am only concentrating on retrieving, John. You do not know yet, but…I…we…"

"Later, Teyla. Tell us your stories when we get him back." He flashed a smile for he had guessed they had grown closer recently.

Teyla bit her lip again as they now reached the walls that had been the scene of the 'Games' just the day before.

Aliass pointed to the Hall. "There." She simply stated.

Teyla and Ronon looked at Rodney. "Yes, yes, I know. I'll save the day as usual!" He said, but grinning ear to ear.

A baffled Aliass and Shebo looked at each other.

"There is more to us than I have had time to divulge." Teyla said simply.

"So, it seems." Shebo laughed but followed them to look at where the babbling man called Rodney led them down a small corridor and into a brightly lit Hall that screamed 'Ancient' to him.

"There." He simply said, and swiped his hand against the obvious interface in the golden patterned wall. The well-hidden doors slowly opened at his touch. "Open sesame." Rodney said, instantly missing that John was not with him for the reference.

Ronon and Shebo shouldered their way in first and instantly came across the two unconscious guards.

Teyla ran to them and touched their necks "Alive, but out cold. Stun?"

Ronon just nodded.

The cavern was brightly lit. Instantly they saw how large it was. It was also empty of any other people. A coldness settled in Teyla's heart.

"He was here, but he's been taken somewhere else. Why else would these guards be here."

"I agree with Teyla." Ronon said.

"True. We will look further, but first, let me find my sons and we shall start corralling as many as we can in here to hide them."

"Please do, Shebo. I do not think we have long before they come." Teyla briefly hugged Shebo and Aliass as they ran back out of the doors.

"The guards?" Rodney asked.

Ronon roughly shook one of them. "Leave them there for now. I suspect they will be out for a time yet."

"Teyla, stay here with Rodney and help the people into the cavern when they come running. Time is running out. I must go and see if I can find John."

"I want to go with you."

"Rodney needs to stay here and hold the doors open…and then shut them when the time is right. I am sorry, but you must stay and support him." He turned and ran.

"He has to find him. I can't lose him twice in the period of a few weeks." Rodney looked utterly miserable.

Teyla squeezed her eyes together and nodded. "Where could he be?"

SGA SGA SGA

Johns head pounded as he struggled through the waking up process. It was there the minute he woke up, and was now at a level which was crying out a darkened room somewhere quiet in the back of the infirmary.

He opened his eyes further. It was somewhere quiet but it was not Atlantis.

He could hear whispered voices. He had to know what was going on.

Heavy and pained muscles fought against his will to move, but he was managing it at long last. He knew he had been hit with a wraith stunner, but the level of pain, weakness and tingling was like nothing else he had experienced before. He was starting to feel like he was coming out of his skin. With a sinking feeling, he was starting to realise that he had been hit more than once. Damn, Aiden!

John did succeed in moving from his side to his back. Blinking through the sweat pouring into his eyes the movement brought on, John was aware he was on the floor of a room he recognised. Almost recognised. He still wasn't firing on all full cylinders yet.

He heard a groan; realised it was himself, and hauled a hand up to his eyes to shield himself against the bright light.

He closed his eyes, then jerked them open again when he started to drift back to sleep. Now was not the time for a nap no matter how good that thought was.

He snapped his eyes open again and focused on one spot. Fluttering his eye lids several times to try and see properly, John eventually understood that the brightness of the room was caused by the light hitting off the many golden statues Bra'taan adorned his chambers with. He jerked when he also realised that he could feel another body lie beside his. Who was it? And why was he here.

John put a lot of effort into trying to shimmy his stunned body into a sitting position, only to feel from behind somebody yank him up under the arm pits and drag him a short distance before slamming him back against the wall. He almost face planted at the dizzying events the abrupt move had made on him, but a solid hand held him on his chest until he was orientated again.

"Are you back?"

Damn. Aiden again.

John see-sawed on the smooth wall, occasionally throwing out an arm to steady himself. Nausea was starting to make an appearance also. "Um..Aiden…what….urgh…"

John retched, but managed to hold being sick for the moment.

"Several stuns at once do not agree with a body." Chuaann spoke the obvious.

"Bas…d…"

Chuaann laughed. "Colonel, wash your mouth out with soap."

"Wash yours out with Wraith blood….Aiden!"

John blinked and there was Chuaann looking down on him with such blind rage. John gulped. His ex-friend really did hate him. It was obvious to see. He put a hand out. "Look, Aiden…sorry, Chuaann…help an old buddy out here, yeah?"

John rolled his head and tried to take in his surroundings while he talked.

Two of the guards from earlier were also present in the room. They had their guns trained on him, but they looked nervous as anything. Chuaann probably had them terrified. He flicked his eyes back to the right and noticed Bra'taan slowly coming out of his enforced sleep. That explained where he was.

"Never mind him, Colonel. Look at me!"

John did. He saw anger, but also confusion.

"Aid…Chuaann. I've said this to you before. It still stands. Come back with me, I will…"

"Go back! To what? I LIVE HERE. YOU MADE ME LIVE HERE!" He shouted, and finally stirring Bra'taan into consciousness.

John clutched his head and groaned. His raised voice had went straight through his head like a sword. Nausea swirled and he had to clamp his mouth against a wave of sickness and pain.

Chuaann looked like he was going to come closer to John, but he brought his wrist to his mouth and started talking into his sleeve. John was confused until he witnessed a small smile creep upon his face as he finished his sentence.

He stalked predatorily towards John, and crouched down beside him. "Seems your rides here, Colonel. You know, I should thank you. This was to be my last time working for my queen anyway. I was retiring. But now, thanks to you, I'll be doing it in style. Revenge is almost as glorious as my prize."

"Which is?" John tried to look interested.

"Enzyme. A lifetimes' supply… I'm going to stay on a small planet I've found."

The level of sadness in his words that came over John suddenly was something he didn't want to experience again for another human being. Chuaann was so high on enzyme he had obviously had lost all idea of who Wraith were. They would never let him go. Not if he could pull off these 'Games' for them from planet to planet on a regular basis.

John audibly sighed before propping himself forward and trying to look wise. "Listen to yourself. Can you hear what you sound like? They will NEVER let you go!"

The punch to his already sore face by Chuaann silenced him for a few minutes whilst he regained some equilibrium. Slowly, he opened up his squeezed shut eye lids. That had been painful. But probably expected.

He was surprised to see that Chuaann had vanished from in front of him and now Bra'taan was also fully awake and precariously tied to his own chair, looking a little worried to say the least. Somehow Chuaann had also turned his two guards against him and they were pointing their weapons his way in a threatening manner and looking like they might advance on him at any minute. John noticed, with dismay, that their faces were covered with a sheen of sweat – enzyme! Good way to get every-one on side. Make them feel good – make them need more. Chuaann was not stupid.

Chuaann rubbed his forehead. So he also had a headache. "You. Prisoner!" He shouted over to John.

John chuffed. "Just what were you thinking? The Wraith will be here in minutes and take everything away from you, including your life. Did alarm bells not ring when you were promised so much? Did you know that you were condemning your entire planet?"

John tested his legs. Life was returning to them.

"They are not Wraith. I would never had agreed to them coming…"

"Well, that's just what you've done. Chuaann there used to work with me. He was happy until they got a hold of him with plenty of their enzyme. Now he lives for it. Like your guards."

John wagged his hand in their direction. They stared at him threateningly, but obviously interested in what he had to say for their own benefits.

"How do you know my sister?" Bra'taan changed the subject.

John laughed. "Well, ironically. She was the one that saved my life after you kindly sent me into the desert to the fate of some rather large birds."

Bra'taan swallowed. "She is still alive then. I have not seen her for years."

"She won't be for much longer." John replied.

Usually, as the expression goes, 'silence is golden', but after a little amount of time, everyone in the room grew quiet and thoughtful, and the only gold was the statues and pictures that adorned Bra'taan's luxurious chamber room. The lack of speech was actually disturbing John. Bra'taan squirmed on his chair with obvious signs of his recovering body making him feel ill. His face was a clear picture of utter shock and betrayal. It looked like he was starting to believe what John had been trying to tell him.

As John watched him he suddenly looked in his direction.

"Why did you come to my land, anyway?"

"To trade. That's all. We are travellers. But you decided to keep us prisoners before we could even explain."

John would have said more but the sound of raised voices, shrieks and screams told him time was up for them all.

"That's the wraith. That's your customers coming to collect."

SGA SGA SGA

To be continued…..last chapter.