*The Lanteans said they would bring their jumper back as soon as they could,* Blaze said, *but I don’t see it.*
“Hey.” That was Sheppard, straightening from his meal. “I’ve got some good news and some bad news. Which do you want first?”
Blaze looked at Everlasting, who shrugged. “Begin with the bad, and perhaps it will indeed get better.”
“You know, I would have bet on your being a good-news-first kind of guy,” Sheppard said. “Anyway. Bad news it is. We won’t have the use of a jumper until this afternoon, and maybe not then.”
Blaze snarled. “You made us a promise, Sheppard.”
“They’re carrying the sickest people in for treatment at Beckett’s clinic,” Sheppard answered. “And then they’ll need to be decontaminated before we ride in them. That takes time. You want to hear the good news?”
Blaze’s feeding hand twitched, but he made himself nod. “Go on.”
“Beckett’s people managed to ask some questions overnight. Turns out that a couple of people remember a man from the village coming back with a story of a wrecked Wraith ship, and there was talk about hiding out away from the village in case there was a culling — and some discussion of whether or not they should try to salvage anything.” Sheppard smiled tightly. “But nobody says they know anything about anybody being eaten.”
Blaze cocked his head, considering. “Is everyone accounted for? In the village, I mean.”
“No.” Sheppard’s smile eased, as though that was the question he’d hoped for.
“So it proves nothing either way,” Everlasting said.
“It’s suggestive,” Blaze said. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Bell take up his guard outside the queen’s shelter, and lifted a hand to beckon to him. “We have questions.”
“I should remain here,” Bell protested.
“You can leave her long enough to speak to me,” Blaze said, controlling his annoyance with an effort. “No other will approach her.”
Bell came reluctantly to join them, positioning himself so that he could see anyone approaching the queen’s shelter. “What is it?”
“You said you culled the nearby village,” Blaze said. “Or was it houses nearby?”
Bell hesitated, for the first time since they had found him looking less certain of himself. “It wasn’t the village, but outlying — a farmstead, maybe? There were four kine in the house, there was no need to seek further.”
“And you are certain you culled?” Blaze did his best to ignore the look on Sheppard’s face. “You didn’t plan it, and then choose to seek the iratus nest instead?”
Bell hesitated again. “I — believe so? I was ill.”
“And injured,” Everlasting said. “How did that happen?”
Bell looked down at his coat as though seeing the rips and tears for the first time. “I don’t know. I don’t remember.”
“In which case, he may very well not remember whether he culled or not,” Blaze said.
“Does that happen often?” Sheppard asked. “Just forgetting that you ate someone? Because that could be kind of awkward.”
“When someone is badly injured, memories blur,” Everlasting said impatiently. “Things are remembered incorrectly. Does that never happen with humans?”
Sheppard’s face changed. “Yeah. Sometimes.”
“If we are stranded here another day,” Blaze said slowly, “I would like to see if we could find that farmstead, or the bodies that were fed upon. I do not distrust you,” he added, before Bell could protest, “but I would like more clarity in this picture.”
Bell subsided, controlling his thoughts well enough that Blaze did not have to notice his disagreement.
“What exactly do you have in mind?” Sheppard asked.
“The Consort and I should search,” Blaze said, nodding at Everlasting. “As I have said. You would, of course, be welcome to accompany us.”
Everlasting smiled at that, and Sheppard looked distinctly sour. “Yeah, I just bet.” He chewed his lower lip for a moment. “Teyla! Come here a minute, will you?”
The Young Queen set aside her rations and came to join them. Of all the humans, she looked least troubled by her night under the stars, sleek and calm as ever.
“These guys want to go looking for the bodies of the people that got fed on,” Sheppard said. “I was thinking I’d take McKay, unless you wanted to come.”
The Young Queen considered the question. “I think that is a good plan. There is much here that does not make sense. Yes, take Rodney. I will stay here with Ronon and — Casey?”
Sheppard nodded. “Yeah. And Hernandez. Just in case the queen wakes up hungry.”
“A reasonable precaution,” the Young Queen said.
In the end, it was agreed that Bell would guard the queen while Forge kept an eye on her condition, and Everlasting and Blaze would try to make sense of a story Bell admitted was no longer entirely clear. There was no avoiding Sheppard’s company, or that of the cleverman McKay, but when Blaze complained privately, Everlasting merely shrugged.
*Perhaps it is as well to have witnesses. No one can say they are partial.*
That was true, though it was a sobering thought. But there was no point in protesting, and Blaze led them back up the slope to the first mark they’d found. He paused there, trying to make sense of the images Bell had shared, and Sheppard rested his hands on the butt of his weapon.
“You know, I’m still not getting this. Your queen left a trail up to the iratus bugs, right? Coming from the ship? So if your guys did feed, why didn’t we find the bodies there?”
“That’s assuming they were camped at the ship,” McKay said. “Were they?”
Everlasting shrugged, and Blaze said, “We think so. Or, rather, her blade says so.”
“It would make sense,” Everlasting said. “It is shelter, and I would expect to have been found sooner rather than later.”
“But they were all sick,” McKay said. “Right? And I’m guessing all the communications equipment was smashed in the crash.”
“Correct,” Everlasting said.
Blaze made an effort not to bare his teeth. The curiosity of clevermen was their most useful trait, but there were times, he felt, when it should be restrained.
“So why wouldn’t they at least have moved the body?” McKay looked as though that personally offended him. “I can’t see camping out in a decaying wreck with a dead man just hanging over the controls.”
*He has a point,* Everlasting said.
*Bell said nothing of a camp,* Blaze answered.
*Yes, but there seems to be a great deal he doesn’t remember,* Everlasting said.
“If you’ve got something to say,” Sheppard said, “let’s share it with the class.”
Blaze blinked, but decided he didn’t need to understand the idiom to know what the Lantean meant. “He said we should follow the ridge to find the farmstead. If there was a camp, perhaps it will be on that line as well.”
They tracked west along the top of the ridge, following what Blaze could understand of Bell’s memories. The blade had clearly been unwell, the images wavering and highly colored, tasting of iron and ash. But, yes, there was the twisted tree, split by lightning, only one branch still bearing a defiant cluster of dark leaves.
“There,” he said, pointing. “If we bear south, down the ridge, we should find a dry stream, and then the farmstead.”
There were more signs of a human presence as they walked, trails worn in the scrub that led to what Blaze guessed would be good hunting spots, and as they crossed the stream, dry except for a trickle of water at its very center, they began to see scars where something had grazed on the vegetation. Even as he thought that, there was a rustle in the undergrowth, and a shaggy four-legged creature bolted from shelter and charged up the hill, three smaller versions of itself scampering in its wake.
McKay turned, looking as startled as the rest of them. “That looked — was that a goat?”
“Anythi
ng’s possible,” Sheppard answered. “Looks like we’re getting closer.”
Blaze pressed on, following a trail that widened until it was easily big enough for two to walk abreast. The trees were taller here, and straighter, not shaped by the winter winds, and he was unsurprised to see the path open out into a small clearing. A house stood there, low and turf-roofed, and another of the shaggy animals was standing on the rooftree, grazing on the flower-studded grass. They had come from the fenced enclosure, Blaze guessed, but the gate stood open, the three-sided shed empty except for a long trough. There was no smoke from the chimney, and the field behind the house looked as though it had not been tended in some days.
Sheppard held up his hand. “Hello! Anybody home?”
The shout startled a flock of blue-winged birds that rose out of the field in a chattering crowd, but there was no other answer.
*There is no one here,* Everlasting said.
*Not alive,* Blaze answered. He said aloud, “If there were humans here, they would not let the birds take their crop.”
“I hate to say it, but I think you’re right.” Sheppard moved out into the clearing. “Hello? Anyone?”
There was no answer, not even birds this time, and Sheppard and McKay exchanged unhappy looks.
“Better check it out,” Sheppard said, and McKay shook his head.
“You know, investigating alien plagues is really outside my field of expertise.”
“Beckett’s shot should be good enough,” Sheppard answered, and headed for the door.
“Should be isn’t the same as definitely,” McKay said, but copied him.
Blaze followed them both, Everlasting at his heels, and tipped his face to the breeze to try to get a sense of what might be waiting for them. There was no taint of death, only the sour scent of human habitation, unwashed bodies and animals, and he couldn’t help glancing back at Everlasting. *I don’t believe that they were here.*
*Nor I. Though it’s possible Bell or one of the others found the place and planned to cull, but were too weak to manage.*
“Hello,” Sheppard called again, and stuck his head through the narrow door. “Hello?” He pulled back a moment later. “There’s nobody there, and it looks to me like they packed up and left.”
“Let me see,” Blaze said, and the Lanteans moved out of his way.
The interior of the house was dark and smelled even more strongly of animals and humans, but the central hearth was empty, the ashes spread to be sure no sparks were left, and there were no pots on the shelves. The bedstead had been stripped of blankets, though the mattress remained, and there was a single wooden chest against the side wall. Blaze opened it, and found it empty except for a few bits of wood. The larder was empty, even the earthenware crock as large as a child scraped clean of all but a handful of grain. Abandoned, yes, but the owners had had time to pack their things.
*Gone,* he said, to Everlasting, sharing the image, and felt the other consort’s agreement. He stepped back out into the sunlight and the clean air, and said aloud, “They have left and taken their goods, I agree. Possibly for fear of us —”
“You can’t blame them for that,” Sheppard said.
“But there was no culling here.”
“I agree,” Everlasting said. “So — your man dreamed it in his fever?”
Blaze shook his head. “I don’t know. It doesn’t make sense.”
“My guess is they were either running from you,” Sheppard said, “or someone came down with the fever and they were trying to take them to the village.”
That was certainly possible. Blaze cast around, circling the house and the open pen, but the ground was hard and dry, showing no footsteps.
“If they saw the scout crash,” McKay said, “they might have known what it was, or they just might not have wanted to take chances, given that any ship that crash-lands on any planet around here is likely to be unfriendly. So they packed up —”
“And turned their livestock loose,” Sheppard said.
“Yes, and let the goats out, probably because trying to herd goats through a forest is a lot harder than carrying bundles of food, and high-tailed it for the village.” McKay let out his breath. “Though that’s still a hard walk. And that might rule out fever —”
“No,” Everlasting said. “Look here. They had a cart.”
Blaze came to join him, stared at the familiar double track where wheels had crossed another nearly-dry stream. “Which might mean they were indeed ill? Or simply afraid.”
“I don’t know that it matters much,” Sheppard said. “But it does mean your guys didn’t feed here.”
And if they didn’t feed here, they didn’t feed at all. And that meant — what? That Bell was mistaken? Certainly he had taken injuries serious enough to affect his memory. Or was Everlasting lying, playing some long and complicated game to put his queen in control of her sister’s hive? Neither alternative made sense, and he turned to look back up the ridge, trying to see where they were in relation to the iratus hive. “I would very much like to know how the other blades died.”
“They were fed upon, surely,” Everlasting answered.
“But when, and by whom?” Blaze shaded his eyes as though that would help him see further between the trees.
“Your queen?” Everlasting’s voice was less certain than his words.
“So I thought.”
“So Bell said.”
“If his memory can be trusted,” Blaze said. “And it seems we have proof that it cannot.”
“Wait a minute,” McKay said. “Are you — you’re not seriously considering going back to that nest, are you?”
“I admit that it would be dangerous,” Blaze began, and Everlasting shook his head.
“Dangerous and foolish — foolhardy. With their queen dead, they will be on a hair trigger, ready to swarm anything that crosses their webs. And anyway, what could you hope to see? They were drained of life, that was clear.”
Everlasting was right, Blaze thought. There was no way to tell who had devoured those blades, merely that they had been fed upon, and certainly the most logical person to have done so was Moonwhite. She had every right to demand that last service, and certainly any blade of hers would have been glad to give her his life.
“I can’t believe I’m saying this,” Sheppard said, “but I’m with him.” He jerked his thumb at Everlasting. “I think it’s a really bad idea to go back to that nest.”
“I suppose you’re right,” Blaze said. “Let us return.” As they made their way back to the camp, though, a new thought nagged at him: what — or who — had attacked Bell?
They made their way back to the camp, detouring through the woods to search for any further signs of Moonwhite’s party. Everlasting was not surprised to find none, except of course for the markers they had left to point the way toward the iratus nest. If Bell’s condition was any indication, the entire group had been deathly ill — and how exactly had they been exposed to the blood fever? If they had fed on any humans, it would have been easy to trace the contagion there, and argue that the Lanteans had it backwards, that the fever had been indigenous to Tesierit and the Wraith had contracted it from them. But Bell swore Moonwhite had been sick before Nimble crashed — and indeed, it was hard to account for the crash in any way other than that the crew or the ship itself was ill. Unless there had been sabotage? Not on Light Breaking’s hive, he didn’t believe that Light Breaking would have sent him here if she had meant to kill her sister, but on Moonwhite’s hive? Among some other, disaffected faction? One of Alabaster’s people? That made the most sense, except that he could see no way for any of Alabaster’s people to gain access to Moonwhite’s hive. Perhaps there had been a visit he didn’t know about? He would have to ask Blaze once they returned.
Nothing had changed when they returned to the camp, except that the fire had been allowed to die down to coals, and the Lanteans had constructed a set of comfortable-looking three-sided shelters. Bell still squatted in the doorway of Mo
onwhite’s shelter, and Blaze lifted his head uneasily.
*Any change?*
*She still sleeps,* Bell answered, and Forge rose from where he had been sitting by the fire.
*I might be able to do something for her, but your man will not let me see.*
*Not without the Consort’s order,* Bell said, and his tone added, and not even then.
*It might not be a bad idea,* Everlasting said, after a moment, and Bell snarled at him.
*And see you harm her further? Over my dead body.*
*That could be arranged,* Forge snapped, and shook himself hard. *No. Our queen would not wish it. Though he has been very difficult all day.*
*I do not trust them,* Bell said stubbornly.
Blaze walked to the door of the shelter and stood for a moment, staring down at the queen’s motionless body. Everlasting couldn’t see his expression, but he could feel the sudden sorrow, quickly suppressed. *Is she —?* he began, and Blaze shook himself.
*Unchanged. Which worries me. She should have begun to heal by now.*
So she should, Everlasting thought. He said, carefully, *Forge is a skilled healer. Perhaps he —*
Blaze shook his head. *I think we will wait a little longer before we try that.*
*As you wish.* Everlasting seated himself on the length of log, and Forge brought him fresh water. The air here was relatively dry, and Everlasting was glad to drink and splash the moisture on his face.
*Did you really think the consort would trust you?* Bell hissed.
*Be silent,* Blaze said.
*I will not.* Bell rose to his feet, though he did not move from the opening of the shelter. *Consort, they are responsible for our queen’s state. You must do something.*
*Such as?* Blaze cocked his head to one side, but kept his eyes on Everlasting.
*Make them tell what they have done,* Bell said. *That is their cleverman, he must know.*
*I have done nothing,* Forge snapped, and Everlasting rose to his feet, meeting Blaze stare for stare.
*Do you call me a liar, Consort?*
There was a clatter of weapons from the other side of the fire, and Sheppard said, “Hang on. What’s the problem here?”
STARGATE ATLANTIS: Lost Queen (SGX-04) Page 10
