“No. I am sorry, Rodney. You will have to leave me here, I cannot walk.”
Rodney’s mind went into overdrive. He knew he couldn’t leave Teyla, but he also knew they didn’t have much time. He glanced back toward the dragon, and there, canted on its side, rested the horse.
“Hold on,” he said.
He ran to the fallen creature, grabbed it, and tried to lift. It didn’t budge. He looked around for something to use as a lever and he saw the lance. He grabbed it, dragged it closer, and jammed it under the horse. He tried to pry it up, nothing happened.
Then his mind started to click. He was still wearing the helmet — it rested easily on his head and he’d hardly noticed it was there — flipped the visor down, and seized the lance by the pommel. It activated. Power rippled up and down the length of it and he jammed it under the horse again. He pictured the creature up on its feet, closed his eyes, and pushed. When he opened his eyes, the horse stood before him, still as a statue. It appeared to be staring at him, but he knew it wasn’t.
He spun back to Teyla. Working quickly, he found two short sticks — probably some sort of fighting staves — and bound them into a splint on her injured leg with strips of cloth he tore from a ruined banner on the floor. Teyla grunted in pain, but gritted her teeth and kept from crying out.
“You’re going to have to help me,” he said. “I’m going to keep this lance active — it gives me more strength, but we have to get you up and onto that horse. I’m going to climb on behind you, and we’ll ride it out of here. You ready?”
“I think you have lost your mind,” Teyla said.
“Good,” Rodney replied. “Then you and I are about on the same wavelength. Come on.”
He planted the lance, held out his hand, and gripped Teyla’s arm. She gritted her teeth against the pain, crying out once, but managed to get her good leg beneath her, leaning on the lance.
“Okay,” Rodney said.
He slipped closer and got his shoulder under Teyla’s arm. Together they limped and hopped over to the horse.
“That was the easy part,” Rodney said.
Teyla stared at the creature.
“Rodney, are you sure?”
“I thought the same thing a while ago,” Rodney answered. “The dragon got me past that.”
Teyla stared at the beast, and then turned back to Rodney. He grinned.
“I am very impressed, Rodney. I believe Colonel Sheppard would say, ‘I underestimated you’.”
“I get that a lot,” Rodney said. “Now climb aboard. We have to get going.”
Teyla nodded. The two of them heaved, and somehow, miraculously, she ended up in front of the saddle. Before anything could go wrong, Rodney swung up behind her and activated their mount. It hummed to life flawlessly, despite the rough treatment it had suffered, and Rodney dropped the visor into place.
Teyla leaned over the horse’s neck, and Rodney reached over her for the reins.
“Let’s do this,” he said.
The horse started forward, and as they reached the exit, the doors swung wide. With a cry, Rodney drove the mechanical steed into the passageway and on up toward the main chamber. No one barred their path.
Chapter Thirty-one
The temperature in the arena had grown uncomfortably warm. The heat rose a few degrees every fifteen minutes or so, and the people in the stands had begun to feel the effects. The musky scent of sweat filled the arena and small fights had begun to break out in the audience — the reality of their fate growing sharper as the temperature climbed. Cold drinks no longer stayed cold for longer than a few minutes, and though — for the moment — they were holding their own, Admah’s environmental controls were working overtime. Normally they hummed quietly and only kicked into higher gear occasionally. Now the fans ran constantly, recirculating the air through increasingly inadequate cooling systems.
A maintenance crew worked at preparing the arena for the next bout, but their movements were slow and labored. They were slow to cart off the carcass of the fallen wolves, and the woman with the extra arms held them at bay for some time, refusing to give up her spot in the center of the arena. The crowd grew restless. Catcalls and cries for action reverberated from the walls. The cooling systems were pumping at full capacity but the air that sputtered and whistled through the vent system was just marginally cooler than the air in the arena. It was only a matter of time until it failed, and the heat became unbearable.
Outside the arena, Sheppard and his team moved quickly through the passageway to the main room. They met no resistance, and there were no audible alarms to report their escape. As they moved, the heat worked on them quickly. After only a short distance they were coated in sweat. When they’d last walked those halls the air had been cool and pleasant, but it was beginning to feel stagnant and humid. All of the wonders and luxuries of Admah were failing, and though it was still bearable, it was obvious that it would not be for long.
The hallway emptied into the main room and the team was greeted by a cooler gust of air. Drinks and pitchers still sat on the tables all over the room, and music played through the speakers in the walls. It was surreal, with the world about to end and the music still playing. “This way,” Sheppard said, leading them on.
“Wait.” Ronon had stopped and was staring off toward another door.
Sheppard tried to wipe the sweat from his face. “What?”
“It’s only a little ways to the rooms where they held us. Our weapons are there, and the rest of our gear.”
“If they didn’t take them away,” Cumby said. “It’s getting pretty hot in here — we should just go.”
Ronon frowned. He knew Cumby was right, but he couldn’t stand the thought of losing his weapon. He glanced down at his belt where his gun was conspicuously absent. “I’m going to check, you go on ahead.”
“We aren’t splitting up,” Sheppard said. “Let’s make this quick.”
Cumby looked unconvinced, and watched over his shoulder as they hurried down the side passage to where they’d been imprisoned. It was only a short way, but the heat, and uncertainty of their escape plan made it sound like a really bad idea. They reached the door, and Mara quickly opened it for them. Their things were right where the guards had tossed them. Ronon grabbed his gun and strapped it on. Sheppard slipped into his gear, leaving everything heavy behind. Cumby grabbed his equipment belt, but he looked as if he’d just as soon be without the extra weight.
“Now,” Sheppard said. “If no one has any other little errands they’d like to run, I think we should get out of here. It’s getting pretty hot.”
“If we want to leave the city, we have to get out into the gardens,” Mara said. “There’s no shade. There’s no water. It’s going to be hot.”
As they passed the bar in the main chamber, Sheppard paused to liberate several bottles of water. He tossed one to Ronon, and another to Cumby, and they tucked them away.
“This way.” Mara pointed down a hall to the left.
Sheppard nodded and swallowed a huge gulp of water. “Let’s move.”
The echo of raised voices emanated from the long hall behind them. The words were indiscernible but the intent was clear. Saul had discovered their absence, and he was sending pursuit. Sheppard put a finger to his lips and motioned for them to hurry. They slipped out of the main room into the corridor beyond and back down the hall. Overhead, the lights guttered and went out for several beats, then came on again. Admah was dying.
They were halfway to the elevator when a group of guards burst into the hall behind them, and they were forced to turn and fight.
“You aren’t going anywhere,” the first guard called. “There isn’t anywhere to go. Come back to the arena and fight — it’s a good way to meet eternity.”