Sekal shifted the cuffs on his wrists. "Your Colonel Sheppard offered me a deal," he said in response.
Days ago, Elizabeth might have played this differently. Now, she wasn't inclined to give even an inch. "Colonel Sheppard may not be mine or a colonel for much longer, so I don't care what kind of deal he offered you." She pretended not to notice the glances exchanged by the Marines; there would be time for explanations later if necessary. "However, I'll make you a new offer. Tell these people the truth about who you are and where you come from, and I'll do my best to keep their leaders from killing you."
The flinch produced by that threat was perversely satisfying. She turned her back on him and faced Lorne. "Let's go. We can start by convincing Governor Cestan and figure the rest out from there."
Once Alderman had secured Jumper Two's hatch, the group started toward the Falnori command post. Along the way, one of the Marines passed Lorne a sidearm, and Elizabeth could almost feel some of the Major's unease bleed away when he tucked the weapon into his holster.
"Hope you didn't have any trouble finding us," she commented to Alderman as they walked.
"No, ma'am," replied the sergeant. "The other transmitter signals were pretty clearly separated. It wasn't tough to figure out which were you two."
They were nearing the command post, which looked more crowded and animated than it had only minutes ago. It took Elizabeth a moment to process what she'd just heard. Other signals? "Colonel Sheppard and Dr. McKay were planning to track down the second gate's dialer and set up its shield controls. But they shouldn't have split up.
Alderman shook his head. "I don't think it was them, ma'am. There was no signal from another jumper, just the individual transmitters. One was in the middle of the Nistra army. The other was headed this way. We figured they were Teyla and-"
She drew up short, cutting him off in mid-sentence. Kellec had just come into view, dragging a captive in much the same manner as they'd brought Sekal. Even from a hundred yards away, the prisoner wasn't difficult to identify.
"Ronon," Alderman finished lamely.
After an aborted attempt at working out the situation from the information currently available to her, Elizabeth realized that she had no chance of divining what the hell was going on. She squeezed her eyes shut for a few seconds, feeling a familiar headache begin to build. "There are days," she told a puzzled Lorne, "when I dearly wish I'd told the President of the United States to take this job and shove it."
Head held high, she marched into the command post, knowing the others would follow and lend weight to her authority. "What's the meaning of this, Governor?" she accused. "This man is one of my people-"
"A fact of which I'm well aware, Doctor." Cestan barely looked up at her approach, the brunt of his anger directed at Ronon. "My chief warrior tells me that your man stood with the enemy, even going so far as to kill several of our soldiers alongside his Nistra brethren."
Before Elizabeth could insist on an explanation from Ronon, the Satedan spoke up. "All but one of them were only stunned, and I would have stunned the last one if I'd had a choice." He focused on her, his dark eyes penetrating. "All I wanted to do was save one kid," he said quietly. "That's all."
She believed him, certainly, and she was gratified to know that her opinion mattered to him. But her testimony might not be enough to free him. "You came back to try to convince the Nistra to break off the attack?" she guessed.
Ronon nodded. "But we couldn't show them any proof, and they're too mixed up by the adarite to see reason.
"So you decided to join them instead?" Kellec broke in, incensed. "We hosted you, showed you our weapons and told you of our customs. And you would make war on us?"
"Could you stand by and watch children die?" Ronon demanded. "Because that was my only other choice!"
"Governor, please." Elizabeth turned her most penitent expression on the Falnori leader. "I don't expect you to forget that this incident occurred. I'd like to ask that you view it as a regrettable exception to the relationship between our peoples."
Cestan regarded her without speaking for a moment, and for the first time she felt that he could be truly dangerous.
"You must understand," he replied, his voice severe, "how that could be difficult for us. Your man's actions are considered treason. If you do not allow me to condemn him, I am left to wonder how much trust I can place in you.
"Then let me show you something that might help you make your decision." Elizabeth held a hand out to the Marines, who prodded their own prisoner forward. "Governor Cestan, meet Sekal, head of the Cadre."
The Falnori leader circled Sekal, sizing him up. The thief met his probing gaze with only mild interest. "So I'm meant to believe that you lead the band of raiders that has plagued us for so long?" he inquired. Sekal gave no reply.
"I understand that you don't have any way of recognizing him. Maybe you'd recognize some of his work." Elizabeth took the pack offered by one of the Marines and emptied its contents onto the ground. "We confiscated these items from him and the other Cadre members in our custody."
Bending to examine the trinkets, mostly jewelry and small Ancient gadgets of unknown origin, Kellec reached out to claim a wide, silvery wristband. "I have seen this," he announced. "The Hall once held many of them."
Cestan stood in front of Sekal, not allowing him to look away. "You stole from the Hall?"
When Sekal remained silent, Alderman provided encouragement by tapping his P-90 against the man's back.
"We've been many places on your world," Sekal answered at last.
"Including the mining villages of the Nistra?"
"Their ore fetches a good price in some markets."
The Falnori governor raised his eyebrows, betraying no emotion beyond curiosity. "And you have no association with the Nistra, or with these people?" He indicated the Marines with a gesture.
For once, a hint of derision found its way into Sekal's reply. "These people ambushed my men and gave us no means to bargain for release. The Nistra are addled fools. You ask if I associate with them? I laugh."
Elizabeth watched Cestan's bearing, hoping for some clue as to his state of mind. Even after all this, it still came down to trusting the word of others: Sekal's, Ronon's, hers.
On impulse, she decided to lay her cards on the table. "I'm sure you're thinking that we could have staged this. We could be in league with this Cadre, for all you know. But ask yourself this: what would be the benefit to us? Why turn your people against the Nistra, or ally ourselves with one side over the other? Wouldn't the Cadre have been better off if everything had stayed as it was before we arrived, when they could steal from both sides with impunity?"
Whether Cestan had no answer to that or simply wanted to hear her out, she didn't know. She blazed ahead. "History is a compilation of events and experiences, nothing more. It's viewed by each person through a different lens, based on the knowledge and perspective of that person. Your view of the Nistra has been shaped by everything that has happened between your people and theirs over thousands of years. It would make sense for them to be the aggressors here. But isn't it possible that something else might be at work?"
She was still forming her next argument when another voice joined in.
"The Nistra have done the same thing," Ronon said. "Because of the way your two peoples split and started to drift apart, they believe you think you're superior to them. They probably don't even realize that not all of you have the Ancestor ability, because they've spent centuries convincing themselves that you make judgments of worth based on lineage. That's why they believe you abandoned the treaty and are stealing adarite from them. They assume you think you're entitled."