They were totally silent in their movements. No groans or grunts, and barely a crunch underfoot despite the litter that had been left behind by the obviously hasty departure of the lab's prior residents. More importantly, they didn't move with the sense of malevolent purpose usually present in hunters. Instead, intelligent eyes took in their surroundings in a manner that was oddly reminiscent of the way he and Radek had explored the space only an hour earlier.
Speaking of Radek… Rodney tried to turn his head to find his colleague. As he did so, he suddenly found himself freed of the inexplicable grip that had held him paralyzed since the raptors had arrived. His initial impulse to yell at the top of his lungs had also passed.
So it hadn't been simply fear after all. Of course it hadn't. He'd faced down Wraith before; he couldn't be scared into catatonia by a few overgrown-
One of the creatures aimed a hooded, ochre-eyed gaze at him, and he mentally backpedaled from that assertion. He was quite prepared to be scared into any state whatsoever if it would render him unappetizing.
"I think they will not hurt us." Radek's low voice was irritatingly calm.
"Oh, that's what you think, is it?" Before Rodney could argue the point out of reflex, the dinosaurs carrying what Rodney could now see was Lorne and the Marines stepped through the lab's entrance. Although there was no particular sense of care attached to the manner in which they placed the men on the floor, neither was it reckless or haphazard. `Indifferent' was the best description Rodney could summon.
"Ah…hi," he began with a weak smile, and then stopped. He recalled reading somewhere-or maybe it was something that Geisler had been babbling about once-that a smile was some sort of bizarre evolutionary outfall from the bearing of fangs during displays of aggression. So, no smile. He was about to raise one hand in his best universally accepted greeting when his radio crackled to life.
"Rodney, Radek, Major Lome, if you can hear me, do not make any sudden movements. We will be there very shortly."
That reassurance from Teyla ushered in an overpowering sense of relief. Right on its heels, however, was frustration; even though Rodney finally could move enough to toggle his radio and bombard her with questions, such an action would have fallen fairly decisively under the heading of sudden movements.
"Their hands," Radek breathed. When Rodney glanced over at him, he pushed his glasses further up on his nose. "Look at their hands."
Primed to point out to Radek that adjusting his glasses definitely constituted a sudden movement and that, generally speaking, flesh eating giant chickens from hell didn't have hands, Rodney was startled to see that the raptors' powerful forearms in fact ended in long fingers with curved claws and… could that be an opposable thumb'?
Teyla arrived then, stepping through the entrance just ahead of Geisler, who was beaming like he'd just won a Nobel. His excitement seemed glaringly inappropriate, given that the creature following him had Ronon's body clutched in its forearms. Was it the damned opposable thumbs that had him all worked up? Rodney could admit that the discovery was staggering, but even his scientific curiosity had limits. After all, monkeys had opposable thumbs, and monkeys were some of the nastiest creatures in existence.
His expression must have reflected his distaste, because Teyla reassured him, "It's all right. I have been able to make contact with these…" Turning, she met the gaze of one of the dinosaurs, slightly larger and more muscled than the others. "The beings who inhabit this world."
Beings? She was calling them beings? The dinosaur carrying Ronon deposited him on the floor next to the sprawled Marines, who seemed to be slowly starting to wake. At that point, Rodney realized-a bit late, possibly, but under the circumstances the delay seemed justifiable-that there was no evidence of blood anywhere. None of the men had been injured; at least, not visibly.
When Lome pushed himself upright enough to reach for his weapon, though, his motion was halted almost as soon as it began. Immobilized, he fairly radiated tension and frustration. Rodney recognized the same circumstances in which he'd been caught earlier. Good God! That meant these creatures were actually capable of-
"Be at peace, as difficult as that may be for you," Teyla warned the group. "Although I sense from them only curiosity, not malice, they are meat eaters and very protective of their own kind. If they consider us to be a genuine threat, they will have no compunctions about killing us merely by wishing our hearts to cease beating."
If this really was what it appeared to be, namely ESP-telepathy as well as some form of telekinesis on an unprecedented scale, and Rodney saw no evidence that it could be anything else-the implications were staggering. The existence of these dinosaurs confirmed that the Ancients had been experimenting with entirely different forms of intelligence evolving on Earth.
After a moment's hesitation, Lome gave a small nod. It wasn't apparent whether the rest of the Major's body was still immobilized or whether he didn't want to inflame the situation by moving, but Rodney was convinced the Marines would have shifted from their clearly uncomfortable positions on the ground if they'd had the option. Maybe they were having trouble thinking happy thoughts. Tough to blame them, although they needed to shape up rapidly for everyone's sakes. Ronon, lucky him-and quite possibly lucky for all of them-still appeared to be out cold.
"I am able to share mental images with this one," Teyla said, still facing the larger raptor, likely the leader if size and exceptional coloration mattered. Maybe all that meditation nonsense was good for something besides Ascension after all. "It is…complex-a vastly different way of perceiving the world, and us, than anything I have ever encountered." She smiled and her entire bearing relaxed as the two of them seemed to settle into an unspoken tete-a-tete.
The whole situation ranked up there with the most bizarre meetings Rodney had ever witnessed. It was like something he might have envisaged in the way of first contact with a truly alien life form, an area in which the SGC had had only limited experience. The rest of the-whatever they were; he settled on raptors for the moment-continued their prowl around the laboratory, sniffing experimentally at objects. To their credit, they had the good grace not to actually touch anything or, more unnervingly, drool on anything. Particularly him.
Unable to curb his impatience for some form of information from Teyla, he was about to demand a description of the images she'd mentioned, but she nodded slowly and spoke before he could begin. "They comprehend that we communicate using sounds, for there are other animals on this world who also still vocalize, but they regard this as a. primitive attribute, something for which they have little need."
"Of course!" Geisler put in, practically bouncing with enthusiasm. "That would explain the enlarged craniums in counterpoint to their jaws remaining essentially identical to their ancestors on Earth. They don't need the mechanical structures to support speech."
Comparative anatomy lessons'? Did no one have a sense of priorities around here'? "Fascinating, and yet not helpful in the slightest," Rodney snapped. "Teyla, ask them what they want. Also, if you can do it without making them angry, ask them why-
Teyla shushed him with a quick shake of her head. She seemed to be concentrating rather hard, her eyes closed and her graceful features creased in a frown. "Their world is so vibrant, so rich in sensory perceptions. They see the pulse and flow of life between all things. Through this, they share with one another an awareness far beyond themselves."