Colonial Crossover: chapter 8
Title: Colonial Crossover
Author: Betty (sarah_jones on lj) & Katie
Fandoms: Stargate SG-1, SGA & Battlestar Galactica
Rating: M
Disclaimer: I don’t own any of the characters or fandoms. I wish I did… *g* I don’t make any money with this! I’m just writing the story for fun and hope someone else will enjoy it, too.
Summary: The survivors of the fight against the Ori ships get thrown into another galaxy where they meet the Colonial fleet. Will they unite against the threats of the Cylons, the Wraith and the Ori?
Warnings: some character deaths implied
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chapter 1, chapter 2, chapter 3, chapter 4, chapter 5, chapter 6, chapter 7
chapter 8:
Next morning - a mission - John Sheppard’s team:
In the middle of a lush field of flowers on some distant planet the Stargate activated. A group of children who were picking flowers quickly dropped their bouquets and ran off yelling to the nearest village, to tell their parents that someone was coming through the doorway.
John was the first one to appear. Taking off his shades he glanced around and squinted up at the sun. "At least we've got good weather," he commented to Daniel when he appeared beside him.
Daniel, using his hand to shield his eyes from the glare of the sun, gazed around looking for signs of life.
"This looks like it's a crop field, which means there should be a village or town nearby."
John nodded and placed his shades back over his eyes. "Let's make it a quick hello, you can ask if they have heard of this blood stone, and then we can be on our way."
Daniel frowned. "Don't you want to find out more about the cul…"
"No," John said, not giving him a chance to finish. "We have a lot of planets to search, Dr. Jackson. As much as I love to get to know people, Earth is more important right now."
"It's Daniel," Daniel said.
Dee appeared at that moment. She stumbled as she arrived, but Daniel quickly grabbed her arm to steady her. "Are you ok?" he asked. The first time was always the hardest.
She nodded and glanced back at the Stargate with wide eyes. "That was…"
"...fantastic!" Ford finished the sentence for her while stepping next to his new team members. "Right?" he then asked glancing at Dee, who looked a bit taken aback. Watching her he once more noticed how beautiful she was and he felt happy that she was on his team.
Dee smiled when Ford finished her sentence. He took the word right out of her mouth. Travelling through the gate had been fantastic.
"Right," she confirmed.
Ford smiled at Dee, glad that she liked Stargate travel as well.
"Looks like a nice planet. Don´t think the Wraith have been here recently,” he then said looking around. The destruction surely would have been obvious otherwise.
John smiled at Ford and nodded in agreement. "Looks like we'll be having an event-free day," which he was glad for, seeing as he didn't have his usual team with him and wasn't sure what their chances would be if they were attacked by the Wraith. Neither Dee nor Daniel had any experience when it came to the Wraith. Spotting a foot path at the edge of the field John pointed at it with his sidearm. "We'll see where that path takes us."
“Looks like we have company,” Daniel suddenly said. A group of figures moving towards them could easily be spotted in the distance.
Ford turned towards the people who were heading their way. They looked friendly and simple, like farmers.
"They don´t look technically advanced to me. Unless they have a secret underground hatch we should be fine," he said.
John raised an eyebrow at that and then turned to look at the planets inhabitants.
The people slowly arrived next to them, looking rather cheerful, with flowers in their hairs and colourful dresses.
"Welcome strangers. You arrived just in time for this years end of summer celebrations,” a man said smiling at them.
Ford looked from him to John with a questioning look. They weren´t there to celebrate anything, but maybe they could find out more about the planet by joining them.
"Hello, I'm Dr. Daniel Jackson." Daniel quickly walked over to greet the villager who had spoken. "And these are my friends, Lt. Colonel Sheppard, Lieutenant Dualla and Lieutenant Ford. We're explorers from a distant planet."
"Then you must be tired and hungry." It was a pretty, blue eyed, blonde woman who spoke up. "You will be our guests at our summer solstice festival." Her blue eyes landed on John. Light on her feet, she went over to him and took both of his hands in an attempt to lead him back to the village. "You all will be guests of honour."
John allowed the blonde to take his hands as it would have been rude to pull away. "Well, seeing as we're guests of honour...” He slowly followed the blonde while smiling cheerfully over his shoulder at the others.
Two other young woman with flowers in their hairs left the small group. Giggling they went and took Ford and Daniel's hands. A man went to escort Dee.
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About half an hour later they were all in a small village that was decorated with flowers, ribbons and other colourful stuff. Many tables with food stood at the edge of a big place. Music could be heard and peoples laughter.
Ford was nipping on a drink he had been given by one of the pretty women, while his eyes went over to the middle of the place, where several people were already dancing.
"I like this planet," he said with a smirk while looking to his team mates.
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Mina walked onto the place and immediately looked around for the strangers they had met at the ancestors ring. After she and the others had brought them here she had gone to change into her best dress, wanting to look pretty for the tall dark haired man. Spotting the strangers she quickly went over to the one she was interested in.
"I hope you like our festival," she said smiling at him. "I am Mina."
"It's very nice to meet you, Mina," John said, letting his eyes wander over her dress and then back up to her blue eyes. "I'm John." Picking up his mug of ale he then took a sip and allowed his eyes to wander over the festivities. He just hoped that the Wraith would skip this planet. These were simple people and they wouldn't have a chance against the Wraith.
Mina beamed at John. He was very good looking and she was really curious about him. Festivals like this usually brought a lot of couples together and many of her friends had found their husbands during the summer solstice festival. It was said to be a festival of love as well. Drinking some of her wine she watched John, wondering if he would be the one.
"Where do you come from?" she then asked. "Is your planet similar to ours?"
"A world called Earth, and yeah, it's pretty similar to yours." John looked back at Mina and smiled. He then turned serious. He could tell that the woman was highly interested in him, which gave him the advantage of hopefully gaining some background information on her people. "Tell me about the Wraith, Mina. When did they last come here?"
The smile on Mina’s face faded when he mentioned the Wraith.
"They haven not been here in a very long time, and we hope they will never return," she said. She had heard stories about the horrors her ancestors had gone through and she had also heard from visitors that the Wraith were culling many worlds again.
"Have they been to your world?" she then asked, wondering why he brought the question up.
John listened intently. It was good that the Wraith had not visited this planet in a while, but it was also bad as it meant these people had a false sense of security.
"No, they haven't. But they have come to the planet I'm currently staying on. Your people should be on your guard, Mina. Do you folks have some kind of hiding place that you can go to if they come?"
"I am sorry," Mina said. She couldn´t even imagine how bad it was to actually face the Wraith.
"Yes, we have some caves, where my ancestors were hiding during cullings. But I do hope that the Wraith will not come back here,” she added. "If the planet you are staying on is not safe from the Wraith you can stay here," she offered with a smile.
"They will come here, Mina," John said. He wanted her to have no doubts in her mind that they would come. "It may be days, weeks...months, but they'll come. I'd like to check out these caves, maybe you could show them to me?" He wanted to make sure that they were suitable and secure enough for Mina's people to hide in.
Mina looked at him a bit shocked. She didn´t even want to think about the possibility that he could be right. When he asked her to show him the caves her mood however brightened up a bit. Being alone with him sounded like a good idea, especially as several other women had started to look their way already. She wouldn´t let anyone else get him!
"Sure, let’s go. If we go now we will be back for the dance later," she said with a smile.
John returned her smile and stood up, glad that she had agreed to show him the caves. For a moment he had thought she was going to say no.
"Hang on just a sec," he told her before telling this team where he was going. Once he had informed them he headed out of the village with Mina.
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Daniel was talking to the village leader, trying to learn as much about their culture as possible. He asked about the stone, but just as he had expected they knew nothing about it. The leader, named Gareth soon excused himself and Daniel returned to the others.
"The Wraith have not been here for over a hundred years and they haven't heard of Merlin's stone," he said and took a seat beside Dee.
"Then these people are safe?" Dee asked.
Ford looked at Daniel and sat down next to his two team mates as well.
"No one is safe from the Wraith. If these people have been left alone until now they have just been lucky," he told Dee. He had seen enough of the Wraith to know that they didn´t spare a planet and he had been told what happened during the last year. The cullings had only gotten worse.
"Then how will these people defend themselves when the Wraith come?" Dee pressed, evidently concerned for the planet’s population. She hoped that they wouldn’t just leave them undefended. "We won't just leave them, will we?"
Daniel glanced at Dee and then at Ford. "Of course we won’t," Daniel reassured her before glancing at Ford. "Right?"
Ford raised an eyebrow at Daniel’s quick reassurance. "What do you expect us to do? We can´t take them all to Atlantis. The city and the mainland are really crowded. Besides, this is not the only planet. We can´t protect all people...," he said regretfully. "... no matter how much we want to."
Daniel didn't feel comfortable with the notion that they would just leave these people to be prey for the Wraith. "But these people have no way to defend themselves," he argued. He knew what he was arguing for was a lost cause. They had enough concerns of their own, but Daniel had never been one to leave the underdog to their fate. SG-1 never had for that matter, unless they had no choice...
"I know. But we still can´t use all of Atlantis, even with the second ZPM. What do you expect us to do when the Wraith attack us again? Leave people we evacuated from their home world on the mainland, where they are equally as unprotected and don´t even know their way around?" Ford answered.
Daniel sighed, knowing Ford was right. They couldn't save everyone, no matter how much they wanted to.
"You can't save everyone no matter how hard you try," Dee said quietly. There would always be sacrifices.
"I know," Ford said silently. He didn´t like to leave anyone unprotected with the Wraith out there, especially as it was their fault that the Wraith woke up in the first place.
"But we can try to defeat the Wraith and save as many people as possible. Maybe that stone can help? Or is it just useful against the Ori?"
Daniel frowned. "I do not think Merlin's stone is that kind of weapon," he explained. "From what I read I think it only affects ascended beings."
Hearing Daniel’s answer Ford sighed. "I guess it would have been too good if it could kill the Wraith as well."
"We may find a way to defeat the Wraith in the actual city. There is still so much to be discovered... so many secrets," Daniel said. He smiled slightly at the thought of the hidden secrets Atlantis may be keeping. “I can’t wait to try to unravel some of them.”
Ford wasn´t so sure Daniel was right. If there was something in Atlantis that could defeat the Wraith the Ancients surely would have used it, wouldn´t they? But he didn´t say anything.
"How about some food?" he then suggested glancing over at the huge buffet.
"I am hungry," Dee admitted eyeing up the food. The last time she had eaten was the night before. Standing up she didn’t wait for the other two and headed straight over to the table.
Ford followed Dee and grabbed a plate to put some food on it. It was nothing special, but it looked delicious non the less. Fruits and vegetables were placed everywhere and it looked fresh, unlike the food they had brought with them. Putting a few things on his plate he then smiled at Dee.
"You haven´t told me much about yourself yet," he said. "How was it on your planet? And what do you do when you don´t rescue strangers from the Wraith?" he asked trying to get to know her better. They were a team now after all.
Dee who was picking up some fruits from a bowl shot Ford a quick glance. She tensed a little at his questions, unsure where to begin.
"It was nice until the Cylons attacked." She busied herself by playing with the fruits on her plate. "For the past couple of years I’ve been mainly aboard Galactica and Pegasus monitoring the fleet-wide communications.” She paused and then said: “Tell me about Earth.”
Ford listened to Dee while they both went back to their table. He noticed that she didn´t really seem comfortable talking about herself, but who could blame her after what she and her people had been through.
"Earth," he then said thinking about where to start.
"It´s a big planet with lots of different countries. It´s nice there most of the time... well, it was," he said remembering what had happened shortly before his 'time jump'.
"At the moment Earth probably isn´t much better off than your planet. But that will change again once we found that stone," he said much more confidently than he actually felt. Just thinking about what the people on Earth must be going through, what his family might be going through right now, made him feel sick. It was the reason why he had not allowed himself to think much about it at all.
Dee nodded. It appeared that a lot relied on that stone. She still didn’t understand fully what was supposed to be so special about this specific stone but for some reason she dared not bring it up. Part of her didn’t want to know.
“It’s ironic. We believed that if we found Earth all our troubles would be over, we would finally be safe from the Cylons. But, it looks like you’re fighting an even bigger war than we were.” She shook her head and sighed, sounding defeated.
Ford looked at Dee, feeling sorry. He wished they could have provided the place they had hoped for. But Earth currently wasn´t a planet to take on refugees.
"Our people defeated the Cylons together, we will defeat the Ori and the Wraith as well," he told her. He wasn´t sure if that would ever happen, but all they had left at the moment was hope.
They hadn’t defeated the Cylons. They were still out there somewhere, but Dee didn’t have the heart to correct him. It would just cause more worry for his troubled mind. Looking at him she was surprised to find that he reminded her of Billy. She couldn’t understand why, maybe it was their youthfulness or the innocence both retained. She couldn’t pinpoint it exactly but it made her feel more comfortable around Aiden.
“I’m sure you’re right,” she agreed and even managed a smile. “We’ve come this far, we can’t fail now.”
Ford returned her smile. He hadn´t actually been in the mood to smile, but seeing her smile just made him feel much better. She was even prettier when she smiled and he was glad that he had managed to make her do it.
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John & Mina:
"How far is it from the village?" John asked while walking next to Mina.
"Not far…," she said while linking her arm with his. "…when you know the way."
She led him away from the path and through a small forest towards the mountains nearby.
"If you follow the path it will lead you in the wrong direction. Only the ones familiar with this area can find the caves easily," she told John. "Every child has to learn it until we can find it in the dark. When I was young we played games of who would get there first."
About ten minutes later Mina led him around a bush to a well hidden entrance of a cave.
"Give me your hand, it is dark inside. I will lead you until we reach the torches.”
John obediently took Minas hand, grasping her smaller one in his own. He was glad that the caves were hard to find, yet were close enough to the village in case they were caught by surprise. It made him feel less guilty that he could not take the time to protect these people.
Following her lead and holding her hand, John tried to make out certain shapes in the darkness but didn't have much luck. "So how long till we come across those torches you mentioned?" he asked.
Seconds after John had spoken a torch went on and Mina grabbed it with her right hand, still holding onto John with her other one. She then turned to face him and smiled happily. The caves looked much more romantic to her than usual.
Now with the light from the torch, John could see the drawings that covered the old walls. He personally could not decipher them, but he was sure that Dr. Jackson would have no trouble translating the ancient drawings, or even Elizabeth if she was here. Of course she hardly ever joined them off world, and that was the way he preferred it. It was too dangerous, especially for someone without basic military training. He really should suggest to her that she should have some basic hand to hand combat training, he’d even train her himself if he had the time. He then pushed away those thoughts and tried to concentrate on his surroundings again.
“Wow.” Letting go of Mina’s hand John walked up to one of the walls and traced one of the drawings with his finger tips. “I guess this are suppose to be the Wraith.” He grimaced at the colour of the drawings. “And something tells me that this wasn’t drawn with a box of crayons.” To him it looked like blood.
Mina was a bit disappointed when he left her side to look at the drawings, but she also could understand his interest. She had looked at them all her life already and still found them fascinating.
"The drawings have been here for generations. I do not know who made them or what all of them mean. But my father told me that these are the Wraith," she said pointing to a certain drawing before turning to another wall. "My people believe that those symbols are from the ancestors, but we cannot read them."
John turned and looked at the wall she was now looking at. “The ancestors?” He stepped closer and peered at the markings. Even though he couldn’t understand any of them some of the symbols did look awfully familiar. “I better get Dr. Jackson over here,” he mumbled, knowing that this discovery may be one hell of an important one that might possibly help save Earth.
“Mina, I could kiss you.” It wasn’t an invitation, just an expression, a way of showing his sudden excitement.
Mina stared at John for a moment, her expression turning from surprise to joy. She then leaned forward and kissed him happily, wrapping her arms around his neck.
One second he was about to contact Daniel and in the next Mina had thrown her arms around him and pressed her lips warmly against his. At first John was too stunned to react, but after a couple of seconds he found his hands sneaking around her waist and his lips starting to move against hers. But in his mind he wasn't kissing Mina he was kissing someone entirely different. He could taste her lips and the smell of her skin as if she was really there. It was in this moment that John realised something. He stepped back breaking his connection with Mina.
"Mina, I..." He trailed off not sure what to say. He couldn't bring himself to say he was in love with another woman, not until he was sure if the woman in question returned those feelings.
Mina smiled happily up at him when he broke the kiss. She had never been kissed that way before. She now was sure that he was the right one.
"You do not have to say anything," she said when he hesitated. For her there was no doubt that he felt the same way she did.
Moving a bit closer to him she then took his hands. "I hoped this would happen when I first saw you," she told him blushing slightly.
John immediately felt guilty and knew he had to make it clear that nothing could ever happen between them.
"Mina," he started, looking down at their hands. "You're a very beautiful and lovely woman and I’m flattered, I really am…" He looked back up into her piercing blue eyes. "…and if things were different..." He cleared his throat knowing that he needed to get to the point. "Mina, I cannot give or promise you anything. I'm sorry."
When Mina heard his first words she smiled even more, but when he went on the smile on her lips faded. She stared at him a bit shocked and surprised.
"It is because you will leave again, is it not?" she asked sadly.
"You do not have to leave. We will be happy if you stay. Or I can come with you," she added looking up at him hopefully.
"Oh, I do have to leave, Mina," John told her still trying his best to do this as nicely and as quickly as possible. "And, no, you cannot come with me. It's too dangerous. You'll be safer here." He was unsure if this was a lie or not, but he really did want to believe that the people of this world would be safe if the Wraith attacked.
"You deserve someone who can always be there for you. I can't do that, and if I'm honest... my heart belongs to someone else. It has for a long time, I just never realised it.”
Mina wanted to tell him that she didn´t care if she was safe as long as she could be with him, but then he said that his heart belonged to someone else. Staring at him she then stepped back, trying hard to keep tears from falling. She should have known. She never had been lucky with men, why should she have been now? Turning around she started to run out of the cave and back towards the village.
"Mina, wait!" John called after her but she didn't stop. He sighed and briefly closed his eyes, feeling terrible. He hadn't meant to hurt her.
Opening his eyes again he then contacted Daniel. "Dr. Jackson, there is something I think you should take a look at."
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Same day - another mission - Major Lorne’s team:
Cadman appeared at the other side of the Stargate first and waited for her teammates to appear as well. She had noticed how happy Sharon and Helo looked and was glad that Dr.Weir, General O'Neill and Admiral Adama had allowed them to move to Atlantis and join a team. Of course she understood the risk of trusting a Cylon, but Sharon had helped her back on New Caprica, and therefore had earned her trust. Maybe she was trusting too easily, but it was also possible that she saw the situation cleared because she hadn´t been at war with the Cylons for years.
She then glanced around to check the planet out. Everything looked a little dull to her, but that could just be the weather. It looked like it might rain soon and a fresh breeze was in the air.
Helo appeared behind Cadman and grinned widely. "Woah, that was frakking cool," he exclaimed and then turned to where Sharon had appeared next to him.
Cadman just laughed. "Yeah, Stargate travel is great," she said.
Lorne was the last one to appear. Stepping away from the Stargate he looked around and came to the same conclusion as Cadman. "Looks like it's going to rain," he commented out loud. He then pointed to the south. "Someone has passed through here recently," he said nudging the ground with his foot. "Actually, it looks like there are a number of tracks."
Sharon watched Lorne for a couple of seconds before noticing a weapon scorch mark on one of the large rocks which were dotted around the Stargate. "An attack?" she asked, gesturing to the rock.
Cadman followed the Majors gaze and noticed the footmarks as well. She then went over to the rocks to examine them closer.
"Could have been Wraith stunners, or something else. I can´t really tell," she said looking to the Major.
Helo was about to ask them what they should do when he suddenly heard a loud scream from nearby. Without thinking he turned around and headed in that direction. Someone was in pain and he had to find out what was happening.
Sharon jumped slightly when the high pitched scream suddenly destroyed the stormy silence. Before she had a chance to react Helo was already running towards the screams.
"Helo!" she yelled. When he didn't stop, she made sure her firearm was secure before running after him.
Lorne knew yelling an order for them to stop was pointless. With one glance at Cadman he ran after the two members of his team, hoping to get to them before they managed to find whoever was screaming. If there were Wraith here they had to be as careful as possible.
Cadman rushed after them as well, hoping that they weren´t running into a trap.
Rushing past several trees and bushes, Helo arrived at a clearing and stopped shocked.
At the other end of the small clearing he could make out the screaming woman pinned to a tree by... something. The horror on the womans face matched the one on Helos when he saw her ageing in front of his eyes. He then quickly pulled out his gun and shot at the creature.
Sharon followed by the others ran out into the clearing just as Helo shot at the Wraith. Lorne immediately grabbed his weapon and swore under his breath. If there was one, there had to be more.
When it was hit in his right shoulder, the Wraith stood up and turned around. Helo had been too late, he had just finished feeding. He sneered at the four, before attempting to make a quick exit back into the trees.
"Don't let him get away," Lorne yelled, firing at the Wraith.
Cadman immediately shot at the Wraith when he tried to get away, knowing that he would not be alone. They couldn´t risk that he alarmed others.
Helo fired again as well.
The Wraith was bleeding heavily and tried to get away. The others had to be near and would come to help him when they heard the firing. He would just have to hold on.
Cadman followed the Wraith when a blast from a stunner nearly missed her. Throwing herself to the ground she then turned around and fired into the direction of the shooter, just to see a group of five Wraith arriving.
"Valerii, Helo, find cover!" Lorne yelled before firing in the direction the Wraith blasts were coming from, buying Cadman time to get up and to safety. They needed to get out of here fast.
Helo did what he was told and hurried over to a huge tree. He then fired at the Wraith from behind it, but just like Cylons they were hard to kill.
Taking cover behind a tree, Sharon took a couple of breaths before firing around the tree at the Wraith which were now appearing. There were at least fifteen now. Suddenly she heard ships in the distance and she remembered what had been said about Wraith ships during their debriefing that morning. Keeping under the trees meant they had less chance of being captured and beamed onto the ships.
Cadman got up and rushed towards her teammates, leaving the clearing behind. Taking cover behind a tree she then grabbed a granade and threw it at the advancing Wraith.
"We need to get out of here," Lorne yelled and ducked behind a tree close to Sharon. "Head to the gate and dial out!"
"Come on," Cadman called to Helo when she heard the granade explode.
Helo didn´t have to be told twice. He had seen what the Wraith did to humans and didn´t plan to get any closer to one of them.
The group hurried through the trees, trying to avoid open spaces. It was five minutes later that Sharon realised something. "We're going the wrong way," she yelled out. Nothing looked familiar and she was positive that they hadn't passed that stream before, also the layout of the trees was all wrong.
Helo swore and stopped running, breathing heavily. They hadn´t been far from the gate and they had only walked shortly through the forest. Now they seemed to be deep in it. And it was all his fault! He shouldn´t have run off like that.
Lorne stopped running and glanced around. "She's right," he panted after a couple of seconds. Swearing, he tried to decide what they should do. Going back was out of the question, they would be captured. They couldn't just stand around here either, they needed to keep moving.
"We'll keep going and try to find shelter," he decided.
Cadman frowned and looked around. "Sharon, can you detect which way the Stargate is?" she asked. Being a Cylon she had been given their technical devices, as she surely understood more about them than the rest of the team.
"Maybe we can circle around somehow and get back to the gate then," she suggested looking at Lorne.
"I think so," Sharon said, retrieving one of the devices from the jacket she was wearing.
"Not wise to head to the gate straight away. If they've realised that we're not from this planet then no doubt they'll be guarding the Stargate and try to capture us there." Lorne clicked his tongue, annoyed by their predicament.
"We can't be that far from the gate," he then guessed. "We should wait a few hours, gather our bearings and create a plan. We'll need the element of surprise on our side as no doubt we're going to be greatly outnumbered."
Cadman cursed, she hadn´t thought about that.
"Maybe they don´t know we came through the gate," Helo said not really believing it himself.
"I´m sure they know. The woman the Wraith was feeding on was dressed like a farmer or something. We don´t really look like that, do we?" Cadman asked.
She then turned to the Major. "So, whats the plan?" she asked hoping he would come up with one.
Lorne hissed through his teeth as he tried to come up with a logical plan. "We wait a couple of hours," he said, keeping to what he said earlier. "We then circle round like you suggested. I’ll go ahead and see how many are guarding the gate. Then we can decide what will be the best form of attack." He tried to sound confident but the truth was that he thought they were screwed.
Sharon nodded. "Good plan," she told him. She could tell by his expression that he was panicking, which was understandable of course. She then pointed over to a dense group of trees on top of a muddy slope. “We’ll be safer there,” she said, as she already scrambled over there and started to climb the slope.
Cadman nodded. There wasn´t much else they could do anyway.
Helo followed Sharon and they sat down under a bunch of trees.
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A few hours later Cadman stood next to Helo and Sharon, waiting for Major Lorne to come back from checking out the gate. They hadn´t met anymore Wraith on their way. But that could be because they were waiting for them by the gate.
"If he isn´t back in 2 minutes I will go and check on him," Cadman said getting slightly worried. Of course Lorne had ordered them to stay exactly were they were, but she couldn´t just wait all day until she could be sure he was dead.
It was then, that Lorne reappeared. His chest heaving, he rested his hands on his knees and tried to calm his breathing enough so he could speak.
“How many?” Sharon asked impatiently.
Lorne raised a hand, asking for a few more seconds. “Ten,” he finally said. “Ten guard the gate. I also could hear wraith darts, but could not locate them. Looks like they’re pulling out all the stops to find us.”
Sharon frowned as she tried to push back her fear. "What should we do?"
Cadman sighed. Four of them against ten Wraith definitely wasn´t a good idea. But what could they do?
"Is there a chance that we can take them on?" Helo asked. "I mean, ten is a lot, but what if they send for more. If we wait we might never be able to escape."
Cadman glanced at Helo with a frown. He might be right.
"Would they send more just because of us? We´re just four humans how badly can they want to get us? I mean there are other planets full of people they could cull," she said and then paused for a moment.
"I don't know," Lorne admitted. "Who knows what the hell they're thinking."
"They couldn´t know who we are, could they?" Cadman then asked. If the Wraith knew that they were from Earth they might want to get information from them on how to get there. But how could they know from the brief look they got on them?
Lorne sighed. He had considered this as well. "Judging by…" He hesitated, trying to find the right words. "The person that Wraith was feeding off of earlier the people here are a fairly simple civilization. Our weapons would have made us stand out and could have given us away."
He then nodded to Helo. "I think we should chance taking them on at the gate. Like you said, we don't want to risk being cut off from the gate completely. We'll spread around the parameter surrounding the gate and take out as many as we can. As soon as seven are down, Cadman you dial up the gate. I'll cover you're back."
"Yes, sir," Cadman answered. She didn´t really like the plan, but they didn´t have many options.
Helo nodded and then turned to head towards the gate.
----- -----
Once they all were in position Cadman waited for the Majors sign and then threw a granade towards the Wraith. Too bad she didn´t have more of them.
As soon as Helo saw the granade go off he started shooting at the Wraith, trying to take out as many as possible.
Sharon was positioned closest to the gate and her orders were to kill the three Wraith close to the DHD, which should be fairly easy from her position. The explosion was her cue to start shooting. She first aimed at the one closest to her. At close range she directed her shot at where she considered his heart to be. The shot would have been perfect if it hadn't been for the armour. Four more shots however sealed the deal and the Wraith fell to the ground.
Lorne fired blindly through the smoke at first and then once the air had cleared his shooting was to be praised. The group of Wraith that had been caught by surprise were now shooting back.
Soon six of the Wraith were dead on the ground. Changing the plan slightly, Lorne yelled to Cadman to hurry to the DHD.
Cadman put a final bullet in one of the Wraith and then hurried to the DHD to dial Atlantis.
Helo was firing at a Wraith, but it just didn´t seem willing to die, instead it came straight for him and knocked the gun out of his hand. But luckily the Wraith was bleeding heavily and Helo managed to duck out of his reach and knock him to the ground.
The 6th chevron just locked when Cadman was pulled away from the DHD and landed hard on the ground, her head hitting a stone. Everything went black around her immediately.
Sharon looked for Helo just in time to see a Wraith disarm him. "Helo!" she yelled, panic rising in her voice. But Helo luckily seemed to have the upper hand and had managed to knock the Wraith to the ground. Sharon was just about to go and help him when she noticed Cadman fall to the ground with a Wraith looming above her.
Being the closest to Cadmans position she ran over, firing her weapon at the creature as she went.
Lorne who was closest to Helo started shooting at the Wraith that was attempting to get up off the ground. He then picked up the other man's gun. "Take it. We need to get out of here!"
The Wraith Sharon had been shooting at turned and shot his own weapon at her now. Sharon managed to dodge the blast by dropping to the ground. Before she had a chance to stand, the Wraith was in front of her and grabbed the back of her jacket to pull her up and then throw her back down again.
Landing hard, Sharon groaned before rolling over and quickly getting to her feet. Something clicked inside her, the part of her that was a machine. She walked up to the Wraith and threw a punch causing the Wraith to stumble back. Sharon didn't give it a chance to regain its composure and threw another punch before pushing it forcefully.
The Wraith was prepared this time and managed to throw a punch in itself, before Sharon had a chance to grab her gun which she had dropped when she had been thrown to the floor. It looked like she would have to fight barehanded.
Lorne and Helo were supporting Cadman, who was still unconscious. With one arm around Lornes shoulders and the other around Helo’s they would be able to quickly get her through the gate. Lorne watched Sharon for a moment and was shocked by what he was seeing. It was both incredible and also frightening. No human could fight a Wraith like that!
Helo glanced at Sharon while steadying Cadman. It looked like she was at least as strong as that Wraith. Usually he was a little frightened by the Cylons strength but now he felt rather proud of her.
Sharon finally managed to grab her gun and aimed it at the Wraiths head. At such close range the shot proved fatal and it was instantly killed.
“Let’s go - go - go!” Lorne then called out while pushing the final symbol.
When the gate opened Helo helped Lorne drag Cadman through the gate while glancing back to make sure that Sharon was right behind them.
Sharon wiped her cheek which was covered in blood, not her own but of the monster she had just killed. She inwardly shuddered before running after Helo, Cadman and Lorne.
Hearing the sound of enemy darts behind her she stepped through the gate after the others.
----- ----- ----- ----- -----
Lee Adamas team:
Lee stepped out of the Stargate and looked around. Woah, that was cool, he thought and turned around. Kara would have to appear within seconds and he wanted to see her face when she arrived. It was almost better than flying, so she just had to love it.
A huge grin on his face he then waited. He was really glad that he was allowed to lead one of the teams and explore this galaxy. But the best part was that Kara was on his team. This way they were given time to work on rebuilding their friendship without Dee interfering in any way.
Kara appeared seconds later, donned in an official Atlantis explorer gear. The expression on her face was priceless. It almost matched the time when she had first flown a viper. The exhilaration was just…. well there were no words to describe it.
Her eyes locked with Lees and she grinned, her eyes bright with excitement. "We're so doing that again!" she exclaimed laughing.
Lees smile widened when he finally saw Kara.
"You bet we will," he said, his own excitement matching hers.
Teal'c was the next to arrive, and last but not least Rodney. Despite not being officially in charge, Rodney still considered himself to be technically in charge here. He was the one with the most experience in this part of the galaxy after all. Looking around it appeared that they were in the middle of a forest. "Wonderful," he muttered. They had no way of knowing how big the forest was.
Kara was on a major high. Still laughing she tugged her cap further down over her eyes and finally glanced around at their surroundings.
“Please keep quiet,” Rodney told Lee and Kara, while shooting them a disapproving glance.
“We don’t want everyone to know we’ve arrived.”
Lee turned to face Rodney when he heard the scientists muttering.
"And you don´t think the huge blast from the Stargate might have given us away already?" he asked his new team member.
Rodney gave Lee a withering look. "Any number of different people could have come through the Stargate, but with you two hollering about like a pair of idiots it makes us more of an easy target. And if you don't mind, I’d rather you not question what I say... I think I have more experience than you when it comes to exploring different planets and the protocol it entails."
Kara shot Lee a glance and frowned.
"If I'm not mistaken, Doctor, and please correct me if I'm wrong, Commander Adama is in charge of this re-con mission?" she then asked Rodney.
"Apparently so," Rodney stated, not sounding too happy.
Lee glared at Rodney, feeling slightly annoyed with the guy. Why had he liked him again during their card game? Yeah, right, he was drunk. He then glanced at Kara, thankful for her words. This way he had been stopped from saying something he might have regretted later.
"Now that it is clear who is in charge here you are welcome to follow your own advice and be quiet until you have something useful to say, like in which direction we might find something interesting. And for the record, I´d prefer not to be called an idiot ever again," he added.
Kara silently mouthed 'ouch' and tried to pull her cap further over her eyes as she bowed her head in an attempt to hide her smirk. Lee was trying to gain authority and the last thing he needed was one of her comments. He better be grateful that she was being so considerate because she had one hell of a comment she wanted to share with them.
Teal'c chose to ignore the small disagreement between his three new team members. Instead he was examining strange symbols made from sticks and hay that had been tied to the trees.
"Dr. McKay, do you have any idea what these symbols are?" he asked.
Rodney who was looking a little flustered went and stood beside Teal'c. Pulling one of the symbols from off a low branch he frowned.
"I'm a scientist," he stated as he looked down at the cluttered twigs in his hand. "How would I know?"
When McKay went over to Teal'c Lee turned to Kara.
"I definitely know why he´s on my team," he said with a small frown. "Guess no one else wanted him," he added before turning to McKay and Teal'c again to have a look at the symbols himself. He had never seen anything like it, but he wasn´t from this galaxy after all. He then looked around again and noticed a few more of the symbols a few feet away.
"There are more. Maybe they will lead us to whoever made them. Then we can ask what they mean," he suggested.
Teal'c bowed his head in agreement to Commander Adamas idea. "I suggest we take caution. These symbols may be a warning."
Lee nodded at Teal'c. He didn´t fancy loosing a team member on their first mission just because they didn´t pay attention.
Kara went and pulled one of the hay symbols off the tree for herself. Caution was never something she would first think of. She was the type of girl who went in head first and then thought of the consequences later, and it had always worked pretty well for her in the past.
Rodney remained quiet. He would stubbornly keep quiet until he felt the need to say something.
Kara took the lead when no one made the first move. Making sure that she didn't wander too far ahead she took the time to familiarise herself to their surroundings, incase they had to make a quick exit.
Lee followed Kara deeper into the woods. After about 10 minutes they reached a small path.
"That has to lead somewhere," he said silently. Somehow the forest looked a little dark and scary. Maybe McKay had been right about being as quiet as possible. Who knew what was out there. There could be animals they hadn´t even heard of yet.
A few minutes later Lee heard a noise, as if someone or something was walking through a bush. He pulled his weapon, made a sign and pointed into the direction he suspected the noise to come from.
Kara tensed and pointed her weapon in the direction Lee had pointed in. She too now could hear the sound of the undergrowth being disturbed by something.
Teal'c, who had brought along his staff weapon, raised it as well. Rodney kept behind the others expecting them to protect him.
Seconds later a boy who looked about fourteen appeared. When he spotted the four strangers he stopped in his tracks and stared at them in fear. Three of them looked like normal villagers except for their strange clothing. The fourth man was of dark skin and had a strange symbol on his head. David believed it to be a sign of the devil.
Lee looked at the small boy and relaxed. Lowering his weapon he tried to smile at him.
"We won´t harm you," he said. "We are travellers from far away," he then added when the kid still looked scared.
Noticing that the boy was staring at Teal'c Lee turned to his team mate.
"I think he is a little frightened by you. Say something nice," he muttered. "And smile." He really didn´t want to scare off their first contact on this planet.
Teal'c glanced at Lee before looking back down at the boy and giving him a friendly smile. The Jaffa over the years was almost unrecognisable from his former self, especially when it came to smiling. It was no longer an awkward expression but a much more relaxed one. "We mean you no harm," he told the boy.
David gasped when Teal'c spoke to him and took a couple of steps back trying to create more distance between him and the strangers. "Father!" he yelled. "Father!"
Lee looked at the scared boy when he started yelling. Obviously Teal'cs smile hadn´t helped at all.
"You don´t have to be afraid," he called. But the boy didn´t listen to him.
Minutes later a group of older men joined them. One hurried over and pulled his son towards him. "Who are you, strangers?" he asked. His eyes then settled on Teal'c. "Oh Lord," he whispered.
Lee was about to tell the man who they were when he saw his expression upon seeing Teal'c. Obviously they didn´t like to see him.
"We are travellers from another planet,” he then said. You have nothing to fear from us or Teal'c here," he added gesturing towards his team mate. He didn´t have a clue what was scaring these people so much. Ok, Teal'c was an alien, but he didn´t look scary, did he?
Teal'c was no stranger to this reaction from people when they were in his presence. He could see that Commander Adama was struggling with trying to persuade these people that they were friendly.
David's father kept his eyes on Teal'c. "You will come with us," he told them. His tone was commanding.
"Maybe we should go back," Rodney suggested, finally speaking up.
Kara glanced at him and then looked back at the group of people which was becoming much larger as more men arrived. She didn't think going back was an option right now. Yes, they could shoot their way out of this, but she was definitely not willing to kill so many civilians.
"Commander?" she looked to Lee on what to do.
Lee glanced around. The people didn´t really look welcoming.
"Is that an invitation or a threat?" he asked the man who had spoken with a frown. He didn´t like the situation one bit.
"We should not take them with us," a woman suddenly called in a shrieking voice. "We should kill them right now or they will kill us and curse the planet forever."
Lee turned to the woman and stared at her. This so was not what he had hoped his first mission to be like.
"By Gods word, they will have a fair trial," David's father said silencing any protests from his people.
"A trial?" Kara exclaimed, starting to worry. This was quickly getting out of hand. "For what reason are we on trial?"
"You came through the gate of hell. Only the devils own come through the stone doorway,” a man who looked like a priest explained, his eyes shifting to Teal'c. "It is God's will to punish the impure."
"This day could not get any better,” Rodney muttered sarcastically.
Lee stared at the man unbelievingly. "You´ve got to be frakking kidding me," he muttered silently. Not only were they accused of being something like devils, but those people also talked about one god... like the Cylons. Just perfect. By their luck it was the same stupid god that allowed to slaughter people.
Frowning he then addressed the man again.
"The Stargate doesn´t come from hell. It leads to other planets like yours and we definitely are not devils or evil. We´re the good guys here. None of us threatened to kill anyone, unlike someone else...," he said and turned to look at the woman who had spoken up earlier.
"If you are what you say then you have no reason to fear Gods wrath," a man called out, followed by a chorus of agreements.
"And you expect us to just believe you? Especially after we have been threatened to be killed?" Lee asked angrily.
Davids father, who appeared to be the leader of the group waved to some of his people. "Bind their hands. We'll take them back to Tregan. David, go ahead and warn the others."
The boy nodded and fled back through the bushes.
Two men advanced at Kara first. Her being a woman they believed she would put up less of a fight. Of course, they were wrong. Her gun was immediately raised before they could even touch her.
“That is not going to happen!" There was no frakking way her hands were going to be tied, especially by the weird metal contraption one man was carrying.
“You are greatly outnumbered,” David’s fathered warned, eyeing the weapon Kara was pointing. “You can either come by your own will or we will take you all by force.”
Knowing that Lee was in charge, Teal’c turned to the Commander awaiting his decision. Rodney held his breath in anticipation, hoping that Lee would come up with a way to get them out of this mess.
Lee frowned. The situation sucked. These people didn´t seem to have any guns, but they may have knifes. He didn´t want to risk an open fight. There were just too many. He then turned to the leader.
"We will come with you, but our hands will not be bound," he said in a matter of fact tone, hoping that they would agree.
"We have done nothing to harm you and we won´t until you give us a reason. So there is no reason to bind our hands. Besides, we are greatly outnumbered anyway, as you already pointed out."
The men seemed to settle with this and moved away. Only then did Kara lower her gun.
The leader nodded his head and gestured with his hand for the four to start moving. The group surrounded them as they led them towards Tregan, so that they had no hope of escape. It was already getting dark by the time they reached the town and they were straight away led into a caged area where they were to be confined.
Rodney immediately started pacing. “This wouldn’t have happened if… actually, this would have totally happened if I was with my original team. The difference is that John seems to have this miraculous way of getting us out of trouble.”
Teal’c kept close to the door and listened to Dr. McKay ramble on. Kara slouched against the bars and sat down. “We’ll get out of here,” she said, interrupting Rodney. “We’ll participate in their trial and…”
“You do understand that this is a religious crazed witch hunt, don’t you?” Rodney asked her, deadly serious.
“Yeah, kinda got the picture, thanks,” Kara replied.
Lee was looking around their location to take in anything that might help them escape later while listening to the others.
"Calm down, we´re not dead yet. We´ll wait for their trial and then get out of here, whether they want us to or not," Lee said silently.
"We didn´t survive the Cylons to get killed here. Besides, we still have our weapons," he then added. He wasn´t sure if these people actually were on the way of believing them that they were not evil and let them keep their weapons because of it, or if they just had no idea what their weapons could do.
Lee then noticed the leader entering the room and turned to face him.
The leader said nothing at first and his expression was pensive. “Four children are sick with fevers. My people believe you are to blame. They also believe you bring a bad omen. The demons will return to feed off us.”
Lee listened to the man and rolled his eyes. This was just ridiculous and he was about to loose his temper. Trying to control himself he faced the leader once more.
"Do you have any evidence of how we possibly could be responsible for your childrens fever? We haven´t even met them or knew they existed until now," he said.
Rodney nodded at Lees words. “How can we possibly be to blame?” Rodney asked, walking to the bars.
“Witchcraft.”
Rodney raised his eyes to the heavens, he had known that this was coming. Superstitious paranoia, something the less intelligent members of the human race were prone to. Of course, with his super intellect he was immune from all superstitious nonsense. He however knew how dangerous this kind of paranoia could be. You only had to think of the Salem witch trials to know that things could easily get out of hand. And if this was the case here, they would be in a lot of trouble.
“You will face trial, were we will gather the evidence against you. Then you will be tested to see if you speak the truth.”
“What evidence?” Kara asked. “There is no evidence. We haven’t done anything.”
The leader glanced at Teal’c. “You travel with the devils follower. How do you explain this?"
"The devils follower?" Lee asked surprised and angrily. "You think Teal'c has something to do with the devil?"
Lee tried to stay calm. He couldn´t afford to make any mistakes because he was annoyed and getting rather pissed the more he heard.
"Do you have any evidence that our friend is what you accuse him of?" he then asked crossing his arms in front of his chest.
"Commander Adama, do not anger yourself at my expense," Teal'c said, trying to calm the younger man. Most would be furious at being accused of such a thing, but for Teal'c, who had served the Goa'uld for most of his life, he was used to being an object of fear to those around him. He also had been in a similar situation some years ago with SG-1. Hopefully the tests this man spoke of wouldn´t mean they would try to drown him as well. This time he didn´t have a Goa’uld inside of him to provide him with air under water.
Lee glanced at Teal'c. "Actually what angers me is being accused of something without any kind of evidence," he said loud enough for the leader to hear as well.
Teal’c turned to the leader. "I do mean no harm to either you or your people, and I do not believe in the devil or follow him."
"Lies," the leader said while backing away from the cage as if he was afraid that Teal'c may break through the bars by magic.
"Look, just let us go and we'll leave taking Teal'c with us," Kara said, standing back up and joining the others by the bars.
"No, I cannot do that. Evil must be punished. There may be a chance yet to save your souls from damnation. The trial will begin in an hour, may god have mercy on your souls."
When the leader was about to leave Lee called after him: "The only evil here is holding us captive."
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chapter 9