“How perceptive of you.” McKay promptly stepped up to his ankle in what presumably were sheep droppings, except that they had the size and consistency of wet cow patties.
Aiden didn’t try to refrain from laughing.
They reached the trail a few minutes later. Too narrow to be a road, the lack of wheel ruts in the sandy soil told Aiden that the path must be a wide foot track. It wound through a few stumpy dune trees and emerged in the outskirts of the village, only a few hundred yards away. From the opposite direction came the sounds of people running through the forest, crying and shouting hysterically. He readied his weapon at precisely the same moment as his commanding officer.
“That doesn’t sound good,” the Major observed, then jerked back as a figure sprinted past them toward the village. He stepped off the path and motioned for them to take cover behind some bushes.
“Oh, that’s fantastic,” McKay groused, floundering around in the branches. “I think I’ve just encountered this world’s version of brambles. With my luck, it’ll probably be industrial-strength poison ivy.”
Dozens of people burst over the top of the rise. Dressed in simple tunics and thick hide boots held in place by leather thongs, they looked like farmers and hunters. Overhead, a flock of startled birds took to wing. The Major turned, and Aiden followed his gaze. Running behind them through the trees, also headed to the village, were still more people. All of them had the same look of dread that Aiden had seen on the Athosians’ faces the night the Wraith had struck. The tension in his stomach ratcheted up several more notches.
“They attack!”
Women clutching terrified children and heavily bearded men carrying axes flooded past on either side of the team. They didn’t look like the sort of people who’d normally run from much of anything.
“Who is attacking?” McKay asked no one in particular. “Not us, right?”
No one replied. Aiden had seen enough frightened mobs in his time to know that this one probably hadn’t even noticed them. Just in front of him, someone stumbled, dropping a burlap bag, while another person appeared to go down. A woman stooped to recover the bag, but the man with her shouted, “Leave it. There is no time. They come!”
The horns continued to blow. People pushed past Aiden, knocking him aside in their desperate flight. Unless they went with the flow, the four team members were in serious danger of being trampled. He looked to the Major, who was shouting something and pointing to a rocky outcrop. The crowds, now screaming unintelligibly, seemed to be skirting around it. Following Teyla, Aiden made his way across the growing surge of humanity.
McKay’s self-preservation skills had kicked in fast. By the time Aiden reached the rocks, the scientist was already clambering up the side, yelling, “Where the hell did all of these people come from?”
“I’m more worried about what’s following them,” Sheppard shouted back.
“Of course,” McKay declared loudly. “It’s these patchy EM fields. The life signs intermittently vanish and reappear once people emerge from the shields’ umbrella.”
Teyla reached the top of the outcrop ahead of Aiden, and looked down at the living tide. “They are searching the sky.”
“Wraith!” Aiden declared, hauling himself up. He looked out across the ocean, half expecting to see a swarm of Darts headed in their direction. Instead, all he noted was a bunch of large wooden boats tied up in the harbor.
Sheppard rounded on the Athosian. “Teyla?”
A slight frown marred her features, but she seemed more puzzled than concerned. “I feel nothing,” she declared.
The crowds had tapered off until only stragglers, mostly the elderly, panting and struggling with their few meager possessions, hurried by. A long, keening cry came from a ditch off to one side of the path. Something was alive down there. Without hesitation Aiden jumped off the rock and went to investigate.
A young woman—a girl, really, probably around sixteen—was desperately trying to bury herself in leaves and twigs. Aiden briefly glanced back to see the rest of his team coming up behind him. Dropping to one knee beside the girl, he said, “Hey, you need help?”
Her pallid features were contorted with pain and abject terror. “My leg.” A flash of confusion crossed her face when her eyes took in his clothes, but it didn’t distract her from her plea. “They are coming, and I cannot run!”
“Someone probably knocked her down,” McKay observed needlessly. “The same thing almost happened to me. Thankfully, I had the presence of mind to—”
Ignoring him, Teyla stepped down into the sandy ditch, quickly brushed aside the leaves, and gently ran her hands along the girl’s leg. Unlike the sturdy looking footware of the people who had been running, this child’s hide boots were thin and patchy. Teyla quickly unwound the leather bindings. “I believe one of the bones below the knee may have been broken.”
Aiden pulled off his pack, intending to take a splint from his med kit. The girl clutched at his sleeve. “Please! We have little time before the Wraith come. We must get to the inn!”
“I still sense nothing.” Teyla glanced up at the Major. “If we attempt to move her leg before it is immobilized, the damage will be great.”
Stragglers continued to stumble along the path, breathless but doggedly determined. None stopped to offer help, although one or two cast a sympathetic look in their direction.
“Perhaps they have some kind of early warning system?” McKay theorized, looking around nervously.
Sheppard scanned the area. His eyes settled on the village. “If there is protection there, it’d be closer than heading back to the jumper.”
“Whoa, hold on a minute!” McKay objected. “If by protection you mean the EM field, let’s use some basic common sense here. With or without their energy weapons, I don’t really care to enter into yet one more running battle with God knows how many Wraith attacking from every direction.”
“If they’re even coming,” Sheppard retorted, glancing at Teyla. “Lieutenant? How long before you get that splint in place?”
“Not long, sir.” This, at least, was something he was trained to do. Aiden swallowed hard and went to work, ignoring the girl’s screams and scrabbling hands. A busted leg hurt like hell.
Teyla was trying to reassure the girl with gentle words. “What is your name?”
“Lisera,” she supplied between cries. “Please stop. It hurts so much!”
“Almost done.” Aiden tightened the splint. “It’s not perfect, but it should do ‘till we get back to the jumper.”
“The inn,” Lisera whimpered. “Not far. Please!” Her face was pale with shock and her eyes were imploring. “We must get there in time.”
“Teyla?” said Sheppard again, his gaze on her intense.
Pursing her lips, Teyla hesitated before replying, “Perhaps it is as Dr McKay says. These people may have a distant warning system.”
The horn blew again, and several more people ran past. “If we’re caught out in the open, we’re toast,” said the Major. “Even in the jumper I don’t like the idea of negotiating a swarm of Darts to get to the ‘gate.” He gestured toward Lisera. “Ford, can you carry her?”
“No sweat, sir.” Aiden pulled his pack on, swung his P-90 to one side and gently scooped Lisera into his arms. The girl cringed with pain, but stoically bit her lip and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Lisera, my name’s Aiden Ford. These are my friends Major Sheppard, Dr McKay, and Teyla.”
“Meet and greet later. Move now.” Sheppard’s gaze was focused on the village, where the majority of the mob was beginning to disappear from sight. “Why is everyone going to the inn?”
Seemingly confused, Lisera took a moment to reply, “For the Chosen to lead us to safety, of course.”
Ahead of them, Aiden saw McKay shoot Sheppard an inquisitive look and mouth ‘Chosen?’ The Major gave a quick shake of his head and kept going.
Aiden could feel Lisera’s trembling, and her tears were dampening his collar. This kid was bey
ond terrified and well into the first stages of shock. And she was light as a feather. He’d thought her legs were kind of skinny, but the rest of her was just as bony.
Keeping pace with him, Teyla, asked, “Are these attacks common, Lisera?”
“The Wraith have not come for many years, since long before my birth.” She noisily sniffed back her tears. “It was not until recently that the raids began again.”
The backs of his two teammates went rigid, and they traded a glance. Aiden knew the Major felt responsible for waking the Wraith, but to his way of thinking, the issue wasn’t even worth debating. Leaving Colonel Sumner behind—leaving anyone behind—hadn’t been an option. Besides, Aiden had taken out plenty of the guards himself. It just didn’t make sense that one rescue mission had been enough to start this galaxy’s version of the War of the Worlds. Then again, for all anyone knew, just landing on the Wraith’s godforsaken planet might’ve been enough.
“Where is the place of safety?” Teyla asked.
“Inside the Citadel. The winged monsters cannot fly over the lands protected by the Chosen, but the Wraith will attack on foot, just as…”A tremor went through Lisera’s voice, and she leaned into Aiden’s shoulder. “Just as they did two weeks past, when my brother was taken.”
The same jolt of sick fury hit Aiden every time he heard something like this. His arms had been getting a little tired, carrying the girl, but he hugged her closer, trying to infuse her with his determination to save her. “Almost there,” he said reassuringly.
McKay pulled up short, looking at his now-dark handheld scanner. “We’re under the EM field. Everybody stick together, because the radios aren’t going to be worth much.”
“We’re at the village,” Aiden said to Lisera.
The girl’s head turned in the direction they were traveling.
“So the Chosen come to the inn to help move everyone inside the Citadel?” Sheppard asked over his shoulder.
“There is a transport there,” she replied. “But the Chosen will not wait for long, for fear that the Wraith will discover the transport and use it to penetrate the Citadel.” Her eyes turned to the massive wall encircling the city, about three miles away. “We must hurry!”
“Which direction?”
“Pass the well,” Lisera said through clenched teeth. “And then go to the left, along the waterfront.” Her terror of the Wraith clearly outweighed the pain she had to be feeling.
Walking quickly beside Aiden, Teyla drew her P-90 closer, all senses primed to detect the first sign of attack. He met her eyes, and she shook her head. If the Wraith were coming, they were still out of range of whatever it was she used to perceive them.
Ahead of them, the village streets were deserted. Aiden glanced around, noting possible places of refuge. Most of the single-story structures were made of wood, black stone and some sort of thatching on the roofs. Fishing nets were strung all over the place, and a strong odor drew his attention to racks of drying squid-looking things.
They passed a couple of piles of rubble that might once have been buildings, before they’d become the targets of some artillery-level weapons.
Lisera’s voice hitched as she explained, “The second time the Wraith’s winged monsters came, they breathed fire on the market stalls. Then the Chosen used their powers to protect the village and the monsters fell from the sky.” Her voice dissolved into whimpers. The pain was really getting to her now.
The Major’s head snapped back, and he started to say something, but a growing commotion nearby diverted his attention. They reached a stone well featuring an old-fashioned hand pump, and looked left down a cobblestone road that opened out into an expansive square. The area was rapidly filling with people, crowding against each other, some spilling down toward beach. The tension level was skyrocketing. As they drew closer, Aiden began to make out what was being said.
“The Chosen have forsaken us.”
“The transport cannot take us to safety!”
“The Wraith will kill us all!” came the increasingly desperate cries.
Lisera stiffened, and her arms tightened around Aiden’s neck. He felt her heart pounding and her breathing quicken. Wild-eyed, she began to sob and shake her head, saying, “No, no,” over and over again.
Red-faced and panting from exhaustion, people ran up behind them, desperate to force their way through, but there was nowhere to go. In order to better see, a few climbed on top of boats that had been hauled up onto the beach.
Jostled by the surging crowds, Lisera cried out in pain. “We’re going to die!”
“Hey, it’s okay. We’ll be safe. I promise.” Aiden tried to inject as much reassurance as he could into his tone, but he had to admit, he wasn’t feeling too comfortable with the general situation.
“My brother said that,” Lisera blurted through her tears. “Then the ghosts came, and…and I ran. My brother came after me. That’s when the Wraith took him. And now they will take me!”
“The Wraith are coming,” someone cried, pointing to the sky.
Shadows passed across the face of the sun. “They come!”
CHAPTER THREE
It was nothing more than a flock of large seabirds. John didn’t have to ask Teyla; the look on her face was enough. The Wraith weren’t about to start feeding on everyone, but hysteria sure was. Unless these people calmed down, someone else was going to get trampled. Possibly a lot of someones. “Okay, everyone, just hold on a minute!”
Maybe a few villagers heard him, but it was tough to tell. “Well done, very effective,” Rodney shouted through the screams.
“Any more inspired ideas?”
“As a matter of fact—” John leaped on top of what looked like a market cart full of reddish fruit, and fired a short burst from his P-90 over the heads of the crowd. A few bullets ripped clumps of sod from the roof of the nearest building, and sent bits of timber and an ornate weather vane-looking thing flying.
“Yes.”
It had been a risky maneuver, potentially triggering the very thing that he was trying to avoid. But the flash and the explosive clamor from his weapon had the desired effect. A few high-pitched screams abruptly cut off when everyone except his teammates fell to the ground. Only the sound of distant horns and surf rolling up the shingled beach penetrated the shocked silence.
“That’s better. Now that I have everyone’s attention, who’s in charge here?”
A big, yellow-bearded guy, dressed in filthy clothes and a generous coating of fish scales, cautiously got to his feet. Before John could address him, Teyla stepped forward and said, “We are sorry to have further alarmed you.” She tossed John a slightly disapproving frown.
He replied with a shrug. In this instance, he was okay with the idea of the ends justifying the means. Around the square, more people began getting to their feet, eyes darting nervously between the sky and the newcomers.
“I am Teyla Emmagen, daughter of Tagan. These are my friends, Dr McKay, Lieutenant Ford and—” She glanced up at him. “Major Sheppard. Why is it that you believe the Wraith are coming?”
Several people started to reply, but the fish-scale guy silenced the crowd with a curt gesture, and spoke in a deep voice. “The alarm came from the Chosen within the Citadel. As chief of this village it is my duty to send the warning signal forth.” He lifted a half-spiral animal’s horn. “From whence do you come that you do not know this?”
Maybe it was time to jump down before he upset the entire applecart. At least, the red things John was crunching under his boots looked like whatever passed for apples on this world. The guy standing by the cart, considerably younger than the chief but just as barrel-chested, appeared none too pleased with him. Apparently even an imminent attack couldn’t deter some folks from keeping business foremost in mind.
“What is it with the introductions?” Rodney demanded. “We need to find this transport and get it operating. Where is it exactly?”
This time, there was nothing slight about the disapproving l
ook Teyla sent in Rodney’s direction.
John opened his mouth to reply to the chief’s question, but Teyla got in first. “I am Athosian. How long before the Wraith appear do the Chosen raise the alarm?”
“They didn’t raise any alarm last week,” declared someone in the crowd.
“That’s because it was night,” barked the chief. “And the Shields of Dalera did not awaken the Chosen.”
“You mean the Chosen slept while the Wraith stole our children from their beds.” The woman’s voice was filled with acrimony.
“Now they have not come to the transport, dooming us all to die!” The disgust in the man’s voice wasn’t exactly subtle, and echoed that of many in the crowd.
“Silence! All of you,” demanded the chief. “You bring the Wraith upon us because of your barbarian ways. Little wonder the Chosen have abandoned you.”
“You are more guilty of trading in Wraithcraft than any of us.” The young applecart owner spat on the ground. “But now that the Wraith have returned, you have all suddenly reacquired your faith in the divine power of the Chosen.”
“Perhaps the Chosen are mistaken,” declared the runner who had come close to knocking John off the road.
“The Shields of Dalera are never mistaken,” retorted the chief.
“Shields?” piped up Rodney.
Ignoring him, the chief turned to Teyla and John. “My name is Balzar. The Chosen do not always give warning, but when they do the Wraith follow, of that there can be no doubt. Still—” He pulled at his beard. “The Chosen may not come to our village this time because we are protected by the Shields. Perhaps the Wraith have gone in search of easier game.”
Stargate Atlantis: The Chosen (Stargate Atlantis) Page 4
