SGA-13 Hunt and Run (30 page)

Sheppard nodded. “So we get back to the Jumper and get it running again. Assuming we can.”

“Oh, I can fix it, no problem,” Rodney assured him. “I just need a little time. Preferably with no one shooting at me — for once. I’m sure I can figure out the lock on the gate, too, once I have a chance to study it.” Sheppard believed him, too. For all his bragging and all his arrogance, Rodney really was a genius, and the leading expert after Samantha Carter on the functions and uses of the stargates.

“He’ll have someone guarding the Jumper,” Ronon warned. “A pair, of course. They always move in pairs.”

“I noticed that,” Sheppard agreed. “Why is that? That feedback loop you were talking about before?”

Ronon nodded. “Exactly. The signal gets even more distorted when you add more Runners, but as long as you have two of them within five meters of each other, the Wraith can’t lock onto the signal.” He grinned, white teeth visible even in the shadows. “But we can. We’ve got two other things going for us. I know how they think, what they’ll do next. And I don’t have a tracking device. They won’t be able to find me with Nekai’s monitor. That’s even assuming Adarr tells him it was me.”

“You think he won’t?” Sheppard asked.

His friend shrugged. “I don’t know. Years ago, I would’ve said Adarr would tell Nekai — or anyone else — anything. He’s gotten hard, though. And he’s worried. He might keep it to himself until he’s sure what’s going on and why.”

“That will work to our advantage as well, if he does,” Teyla commented. “They will have no idea who to expect, or what your skills are, or how much you know about them.”

“Okay.” Sheppard sighed and forced his fatigue away. There would be plenty of time for sleep later, assuming they made it out of here and back to Atlantis in one piece. “Ronon, it’s your call. What do we do?”

The big Satedan grinned again. “I have a plan,” he announced,
though softly. Sheppard listened while his friend outlined his idea. Rodney and Teyla were paying close attention as well. When Ronon finished, they all considered it.

“It’s risky,” Sheppard said finally. “But it should work.”

“It had better,” Rodney grumbled. “Otherwise we’ll never get out of here.”

“It’ll work,” Ronon assured them. “I know what I’m doing.” That much was certainly true. And the plan wasn’t the worst Sheppard had heard, or even the worst he’d put into effect.

“Right, let’s do it,” he said finally. “First thing in the morning.” He hunkered down, leaned his head back, rolled his shoulders to find a more comfortable position for them, and then shut his eyes. The fatigue was already rising up to wash over him in a soft blue fog. Within seconds he was asleep.

Rodney grumbled for a bit, complaining about damp caves and stone floors and hiding in caves and a whole host of other things. He shifted and wriggled the whole time, trying to find some imaginary soft spot on the hard rock, but his griping grew fainter and fainter, until at last he stopped talking altogether. That meant he must be asleep.

Teyla got up and switched sides so she was leaning next to Ronon. “Are you okay?” she asked him softly.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” He had his eyes closed, and Teyla thought he’d probably been asleep until she’d spoken, but with Ronon it was sometimes hard to tell.

“These were your friends,” she pointed out. “They saved your life, took you in, and trained you. They were your first family after you became a Runner. They gave you purpose.” Ronon didn’t reply. “And now they are hunting us,” she continued after a minute. “They are trying to kill us. We may have to kill them in order to survive.”

“They made that choice,” Ronon replied. “Not me. They would have killed me long ago if I hadn’t escaped.” Now he did open his eyes to look at her. “We can’t afford to show them any mercy,” he warned, “because they have none.”

Teyla tried to imagine the world from the V’rdai’s point of view. “I can see where being a Runner would set you against everyone else,” she mused. “It is a very solitary way of life, isn’t it? You have to trust in yourself and no one else.”

“There’s trusting no one and there’s attacking everyone,” Ronon replied. “Two very different things.”

“You attacked us when we first met,” Teyla pointed out.

Ronon grunted. “You were armed and hunting someone yourself,” he reminded her. “Besides, I let you live.” Which was true. He’d been more than happy to kill the Wraith but he’d only stunned her and taken her hostage.

“But surely they have some valid basis for their caution,” Teyla argued. “There are times when not doing anything is more dangerous than taking action. What about that village, the one that gave you back to the Wraith? You didn’t attack them and they captured you and gave you to the Wraith anyway.”

“One frightened little village,” Ronon answered. “And they’d already paid the price for helping me once.” He shook his head. “You kill when you have to,” he declared. ‘When it’s you or them. Not when you think it could some day be you or them. Because if you think that way, anyone could turn on you. There’s always a ‘some day.’ And you’ll always be alone.”

Teyla smiled at him and rested one hand on his shoulder. “You are not alone, Ronon.”

Ronon nodded and smiled — a little. “I know,” he admitted softly. Then the smile disappeared. “Unfortunately, neither is Nekai.”

“I think you are wrong there,” Teyla responded. “He has the V’rdai, yes, but from what you have said he does not trust them enough to share his secrets. They are loyal, but they know he is withholding something, and that makes them nervous.” She shook her head. “No, I think he is alone, far more alone for all that he is surrounded by his followers.”

“You may be right,” Ronon admitted. “But tomorrow we’ll make sure he’s alone for real.” With that he closed his eyes again, leaned his head back, and was asleep once more. Teyla sighed and closed her eyes as well. It looked to be a long day tomorrow, and she knew it would be better if she went into it rested and alert. At least, as much as one could be in damp, dark, drafty cave, packed in with three friends.

One of whom snored.

“There they are.”

“Just like you said. Damn, sometimes I hate it when you’re right!” Sheppard scowled and peeked again. They had woken shortly after dawn, and waited impatiently while Ronon had scouted the immediate area. When he’d returned and confirmed that it was all clear, they’d crawled back out of their cave shelter and stretched quickly. Sheppard had been happy about that part, at least. He still hated caves. They’d swigged some water from their canteens and chewed on some nutritious but boring ration bars — why couldn’t anyone make those things taste good? Then Ronon had led them back here.

Now the four of them were crouched down behind some rocks, looking out at the small valley below and the Jumper nestled neatly within it. Not a bad landing for an emergency, Sheppard congratulated himself. And taking off wouldn’t be a problem — none of the nearby peaks overhung the valley, so there was more than enough clearance for the little ship.

Provided Rodney could get it up and running again.

And, of course, assuming they could get past the two V’rdai who guarded it.

The Runners-turned-hunters weren’t even bothering to hide, he noticed. Which made sense, since they knew he and his team knew they were here. Whew! Plus the Jumper was their obvious destination, so why pretend you don’t realize that? Better to just plant yourself right in front of the door, guns at the ready, and take out anyone who approaches. It’s what he would have done, and he was disappointed but not surprised to see that the V’rdai had thought along similar lines.

“You sure the rest of them won’t be here somewhere, just waiting to jump out at us?” Rodney whispered anxiously.

“I’m sure,” Ronon replied. “Nekai knows we’ll have to come back here eventually, but he doesn’t know if it’ll be our first stop. So he’s got two out scouting for us, and Adarr and one of the others working on their own ship.” He held up the tracking monitor, which Rodney had grudgingly handed over after they’d exited the cave this morning. “See?” Sure enough, there were three pairs of dots on the screen, all widely separated.

“Okay, so what do we do now?” Rodney asked. He held up his hands when the other three glared at him. “Right, right, I know. I was just hoping you’d change your mind.”

“Can’t imagine why,” Sheppard told him bluntly. “It’s the perfect plan.” He slapped Rodney on the back and rose to his feet, staying hunched so the rocks still shielded him from the guards’ view. Teyla did the same. Ronon had already moved away, so quietly Sheppard hadn’t even noticed. Damn, the big guy could move!

“Easy for you to say!” Rodney shot back in a hissing whisper, but he stayed put as the other three crept off to one side. Then they worked their way a little closer to the ship, splitting up so that Ronon was approaching it from one side and Sheppard and Teyla from the other. They settled into place and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

“Come on, Rodney!” Sheppard muttered under his breath. The sounds were still on his lips when Teyla nudged his elbow and gestured silently with her chin. Glancing in that direction, Sheppard saw something shift behind a boulder a little higher than they were, and directly in line with the Jumper’s airlock. About time!

“Um, hello?” Rodney called out as he rose to his feet. “Anyone there?”

The two V’rdai were instantly alert, their bodies tensing and their guns swinging up to point at him. But Rodney was just a little too far away for effective range.

Exactly as Ronon had planned.

“Don’t move!” one of the guards shouted, and Rodney froze instantly except for his hands, which fluttered up as if to raise in surrender before stopping mid-motion. “Where are the others?” the guard demanded. It was a man, and Sheppard judged him to be about average in height, which meant the bearded man. The other guard, who had backed up against the Jumper’s hull, was probably the dark-skinned woman Ronon had mentioned before. The same pair he and Rodney had jumped at the V’rdai ship. Which meant they would be extra- cautious about ambushes.

Great.

“I-I don’t know,” Rodney claimed, his hands twitching again until he finally lowered them. Slowly. “I — when we got away, they ran. We all ran, I mean. But they ran faster than I did. I lost sight of them. I don’t know where they went. So I came back here. I was hoping they’d come back here too. But they’re not here. You’re here. And I’m here. Uh, hi?” Sheppard had to admit he was impressed. He’d never seen Rodney channel his own nonstop chatter and constant fear like that. He wasn’t entirely convinced it was an act, but it didn’t matter. What mattered was how the V’rdai reacted.

The two guards leaned toward each other slightly, muttering too softly for Sheppard to hear. Then the man moved forward, gun still up, slowly making his way toward Rodney. The woman kept her back to the Jumper itself and scanned the surrounding area. Smart. That way they were prepared if someone did jump out, and in a minute Rodney would be within range of the bearded man’s gun.

Of course, Rodney knew that as well. “Hey, wait!” he whined, starting to back up a step but freezing again when the man waggled his head ‘no’. “Look, let’s talk about this! I’m sorry about what they did, okay? I had no part in that! I’m just the scientist, that’s all! I just want to fix my ship and go home!” Sheppard tried not to bristle at Rodney’s calling the Jumper “his” ship, and tensed, waiting for the right moment. “Look, you can come with me!” Rodney offered. “Your ship isn’t working either, right? Well, let me fix this one and the three of us can get out here together! To hell with the rest of them!” Rodney was far too convincing when he said that, Sheppard decided.

But it was convincing the V’rdai as well. “You think we’d abandon our teammates?” the man asked, his voice a low growl as he continued to stalk toward Rodney. “We’re not cowards! We’re V’rdai! We don’t run, we fight!” His attention was entirely upon Rodney now, and the woman’s glances around the area had subsided as well. She was starting to believe that Rodney really was here alone.

Perfect.

“Okay, okay,” Rodney tried again. “How about this, then? You let me fix my ship, and then gather up the rest of your crew and we all fly out of here together. I can drop you guys off anywhere you want — or you can drop me anyplace that has at least a small city, if you’d rather do it that way. How does that sound?”

“It sounds like you’re desperate,” the man answered, and Sheppard privately agreed. The guard was almost close enough to shoot Rodney now, and perhaps thirty feet from Sheppard and Teyla. It was time.

Sheppard nodded, and Teyla responded by rising to her feet. She had her gun out already, of course, and she aimed and fired as soon as she had a clear shot. It winged the V’rdai guard but didn’t take him out, and he spun around to face her —

 
— and Sheppard’s shot hit him full in the chest. The man collapsed instantly, falling in a limp heap on the hard rocky ground, his gun clattering as it dropped from his hand. Sheppard sighed. The man was dead, no question about it. He wished there had been another way.

“Castor!” The woman had dropped into a crouch as soon as she saw Teyla, and she squeezed off a shot but Teyla ducked back behind a boulder. Sheppard could tell she was trying to decide who to shoot at — Rodney was still frozen in front of her but too far away, Teyla was back out of sight, and he was standing there, bringing his own weapon around toward her. Easy choice. She turned to face him, raising her pistol as well —