In his entire life, John had never been so helpless.
"Cancel that," he said, hardening his voice. "Assemble another security team to send back to the planet. Rodney, take whoever and whatever you need to set up the recovery mission. I…" What could he do now? "I'll take Jumper One to the mainland."
He'd already started toward the stairs to the jumper bay once more when Rodney reminded him, "You're in charge here while Elizabeth's off-world."
"Then I guess that means you're in charge for a while. I have to break the news to the Athosians that Teyla's not coming back."
"Someone has to," said Carson. "It doesn't have to be you, not right this moment."
John didn't stop. If he stopped moving, he'd start feeling, and that would be the ballgame. "Yes, it does." It was the last thing he would be able to do for her. He was determined to do it right.
Chapter eight
"Unconscionable," bellowed Cestan, his face reddened in fury. "This vile act shows the true colors of the Nistra. To not only dishonor the Hall, but murder our warriors and strike out at those who have come to help us work toward peace-"
"How unexpected for you to immediately accuse us." Galven's tone made it clear that sarcasm was in no way a foreign concept on this planet. "Do you forget that we suffered losses as well? What evidence have you to suggest that the raiders were Nistra?"
"This was merely the latest and most brazen in a long line of raids." The Falnori governor paced behind the table.
"I would agree," Galven responded coldly. "Dr. Weir, perhaps you will now concede that I speak the truth about the adarite being stolen from my people?"
Elizabeth held up both hands to quiet the room, feeling like a junior high school teacher. A substitute teacher, even, given how much heed the two men were paying her. "I am drawing no conclusions about the identities of the perpetrators at this time," she told them, her voice level. "For one thing, the raiders escaped in a ship. Do either of your peoples have access to that kind of technology?"
"With the meager amount of adarite we receive from the Nistra?" Cestan scoffed.
Galven's fists slammed down with a thunk as he leaned dangerously across the table. "We can hardly make whips from what remains after your gluttonous thefts."
Same song, different key. Elizabeth massaged her temples with her fingers. For a few minutes, she'd thought she had a chance of breaking through the leaders' intractable viewpoints. Then they'd heard the shots over the radio, and it had all come apart.
A subdued "Ma'am?" from the stairwell drew her attention to Sergeant Markovich, one of the security team leaders. John must have sent him from Atlantis to augment the Marines already in place. The sergeant hovered only two steps inside the room, his features carefully expressionless.
"Excuse me," she said, leaving the table and the battle behind. "Sergeant?"
"We've secured the area, ma'am. All of it this time. The second entrance was well-hidden-a hatch with the best camouflage surface I've ever seen, in terms of both color and texture. Whoever opened it must have previously found it from the inside. Otherwise no one would have known it was there."
"What's the status back home?"
The sergeant held her gaze through a brief pause, and Elizabeth felt some of the warmth leach from her skin.
"Ma'am, Dr. McKay confirmed that Teyla and Ronon accidentally traveled to the planet's space gate."
He didn't elaborate. She neither needed nor wanted him to. She closed her eyes, suddenly tired beyond measure.
"All right," she said softly. "Thank you." God, now what?
On numb legs, she walked back to the table. Cestan and Galven might have noticed her absence; it was impossible to tell.
"The Falnori lands lie closer to the Hall," Galven was saying. "It would not have been difficult for your kind to stage this `raid' to disrupt this accord and further your own cause.
Cestan laughed, a caustic sound without a trace of humor. "You clutch at smoke. It was I who first agreed to take part in these talks."
Steeling herself to head back into the fray, Elizabeth raised her voice. "Minister, Governor, I think you've lost sight of a critical point. The raiders had a ship. That fact suggests that they were not Falnori or Nistra, but uninvited guests from elsewhere."
Galven didn't miss a beat with his reply. "Possibly not uninvited. A convenient arrangement for someone who wishes to conceal his involvement."
"That claim could just as easily be applied to you!" Cestan fired back.
Elizabeth bit down on the inside of her lip to keep from screaming out her frustration. Were these men serious? Each blaming all the ills of the world on the other? "Gentlemen, please," she said wearily. "How much contact do either of you have with travelers through the Stargate? Do you have trading partners on other planets who could be responsible for something like this?"
"Not many, and none steady," answered Cestan.
A nod signaled Galven's agreement. "Of late there has been little to trade."
"So you say. Yet you have shown no evidence of these supposed raids into your territory." Cestan's demeanor grew thoughtful. "Just as Dr. Weir's people found mine, other off-worlders could have found you. Have the Nistra struck a new accord with someone else? Is that where your adarite goes?"
"You speak of evidence?" Suddenly Galven looked slightly paranoid and rather dangerous, his eyes darting back and forth between the governor and Elizabeth. "These off-worlders `found' you, and we have only their word as to what happened here today. How can I be sure of their honesty?"
That did it. Elizabeth faced the Nistra leader squarely, skewering him with her gaze. In the iciest tone she could summon, she said, "Minister, my people came here in good faith, and two of them are now dead. If you think this is an appropriate time to question our intent, let me state in the plainest possible terms that you are mistaken."
It was a minor victory of sorts. Both men briefly fell silent, taken aback. After a moment, a subdued Galven spoke up. "Please accept my apologies, Doctor. I was not aware of your losses."
"Nor was I," Cestan added immediately. "Today we all mourn. A line has been crossed. These raids cannot continue. If the boundaries of the Hall are not respected, it may be time to consider enforcing them with guards."
"Falnori guards?"
"Stop." Elizabeth held up a hand, keeping a tenuous grip on her confidence. True, the first round of negotiations had deteriorated into wild conspiracy theories, but there might still be something left to salvage.
There had to be. She refused to accept the possibility that Ronon and Teyla had died for a petty territorial squabble.
"I don't believe we're accomplishing anything of value right now. I propose a day-long recess for all of us to carefully consider what our goals for these talks should be." She put every ounce of authority she possessed into her next statement. "I suggest that all parties either come back with open minds, or don't come back at all."
Turning on her heel, she strode toward the stairs. Cestan made an aborted attempt to head her off, but his protest died when Lorne blocked his path. She heard the Major move to follow her as she took the steps without so much as a glance behind.
After releasing Corporals Adams and Pratt to their quarters, Carson was relieved to find the infirmary empty of patients. He wasn't sure he'd completely grasped the fact that Teyla and Ronon were gone, and he suspected that when the reality of it finally hit him, he'd be useless for a good while.
Most likely there would be those among the expedition who didn't feel the loss of two aliens as keenly as they would for one of their own. It had been a long time, though, since Carson had even thought the word `alien' in that context. Kind Teyla, graceful in every sense of the word, and loyal Ronon, who'd defended this city and its inhabitants as if he'd been born to it.