John brushed his hair back from his bandaged brow. There is one flyable ship on this planet. The Wraith cruiser.
Teyla twisted around to look at him. Do you have any idea how to fly a Wraith cruiser?
No. But it has a comm board. And maybe I can figure it out. We captured that Dart a few weeks ago. I've had a look at the tech.
That Dart was blown to pieces, Teyla observed. I did not know there were anything like operable systems.
John made his so-so gesture. Not really. But Zelenka figured some of it out.
Radek isn't here. And we have no idea where he is, Teyla said. I am sure if anyone could figure out how to operate a Wraith cruiser it would be you and Radek, but to take the ship and fly it, the two of us?
Maybe, John said. It's a thought. He lifted his hand to his eyes, looking out to sea. But I've done waiting to be rescued. If they could have, they would have by now. We have to assume we are on our own.
Teyla nodded slowly. Then we need a plan.
First we need to find the ship, John said. They must have it parked somewhere. If most of the people don't know about it, we're looking for a hangar or a private airstrip of some kind. This island isn't that large. If it's here, it's close by.
If I were the pilot, Teyla said slowly, I should want it in the palace complex. It would be easier to conceal that way, and it would be possible to reach it quickly in the event of an emergency. I would not want to put it somewhere I must then reach on foot, which might take some time.
You've got that right, John agreed. It looked like that Wraith cruiser on Olesia was capable of a vertical takeoff. Which means they could be in pretty close, tucked away in a building or a courtyard or something. They wouldn't require a runway, like a 302 does.
Is that a big advantage? Teyla asked.
Oh yeah. John leaned back against the wall. There is no question that a helicopter, or a plane with a vertical takeoff, like a Harrier, can go places most aircraft can't. The problem we're never been able to solve is payload size. Even the biggest copters are a fraction of the size of a big plane. The vertical takeoff requires too much power. You can't get something the size of a C-40 in the air from a vertical takeoff. He shrugged. Apparently the Wraith can. Which is going to be a big, big problem to us in the future.
So even though the cruiser is quite large, it may be in a fairly small space? Teyla thought she had followed all that.
Bingo. And you are right that around the palaces is our best bet. The question is how to figure out where. He looked around, back toward the higher ground behind them, where the villas and palaces clung to the terraces of the island. We need to get up to the top, he said. If we can get an overview, we can probably spot it.
That area looks crowded, Teyla observed. There are many houses, and surely there are many people about.
John nodded. We wait until later. She followed his glance out to sea, to the spreading clouds rising in white billows in the afternoon sunshine. It looks like we are going to get a thunderstorm later on. We can move under cover of the weather. And that will give them a while to hunt around for us, maybe spread out and think we are gotten back down to the harbor or aboard a ship. Let's stay put for a while, and make a move when we're got weather and evening to help us.
I agree, Teyla said, though her agreement was not really necessary. He was in charge, and she had little reason to ever dispute his professional decisions. Whatever else John Sheppard might be, he was an excellent commander. She had thrown her lot in with the men from Earth out of necessity, but she stood by her decision. If she had had all the time in the world to consider, she could not have done better. We will wait, she said.
Chapter Eighteen
The midday sun beat down on desert and Stargate. Rodney stood in the shade of the back of the jumper, the open wormhole shimmering like a mirage before him. He put his hand to his headset and glanced at Major Lorne as he spoke into it. I'm telling you, Elizabeth, we are been back and forth for hours.
We are flown a full, low-altitude grid between the crash site and the Stargate, Lorne added. It's only about 40 miles. No radio signals, no life signs, nothing. Most of it is flat, open dunes. From 600 feet we'll see them, even if they were dead.
That do you recommend, Major? Elizabeth Weir’s voice was crisp, but it betrayed her concern.
“Subcutaneous transmitters,” Rodney said. “We all need to be outfitted with them.”
“I’m talking about a solution for now, Rodney,” Elizabeth replied by radio.
“If they didn’t walk back toward the Stargate, they went in a different direction,” Lorne said. “Probably toward the canal or river. If it were me, I’d follow the water, especially in this heat.”
Rodney decided to ignore the fact that Lorne had said before that if it were him, he’d walk back to the Stargate. “There were settlements along the river visible from the air,” Rodney broke in. “If they were hurt they might have gone to the locals for help.”
“Our next step is to expand the search along the river and canal,” Lorne said. He glanced at Rodney as though expecting argument, but Rodney wasn’t about to give him one. “We’ll make another low altitude search, this time going northward. We’ll find them, Dr. Weir. Dr. Beckett said he didn’t think that the amount of blood in the jumper suggested a life-threatening injury. They’re probably holed up somewhere with shade and water. And there’s a good chance that an expanding sweep will locate Ronon and Zelenka too.”
“All right,” Elizabeth said. “Stay in touch. I’ll expect a check back in six hours.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Lorne said and nodded at Rodney, who tapped the ship’s controls to release the gate. Its blue glow snapped off.
Carson shook his head. “Aye, I’m with you about the subcutaneous transmitters. Next time.”
“Provided there is a next time,” Rodney said darkly.
“The problem is,” Radek said, looking about the busy marketplace, “that we are very conspicuous.”
“I thought the problem was that we were lost on a strange planet with no gear, no money, no laptop, no radio and no way to get home,” Ronon said.
“That too.” Radek pushed his glasses up on his nose again. “But you must admit that our appearance is memorable.” Or rather, that Ronon’s was. Radek’s shirt and pants might be odd, but the scientist himself did not look entirely out of place on the Holy Island. His hair, his size, his demeanor were all nondescript. On the other hand, Ronon turned heads wherever he went. Six foot four and built like a brick wall waiting for someone to punch it, Ronon was the kind of man who made people get out of his way and remember his passing. “You look like a warrior, my friend,” Radek said. “You would be less noticeable if you were dressed as the warriors here are.”
Ronon shrugged. “Not like we can buy clothes. And I could mug somebody, but that would start trouble.”
“Yes, I should think it would,” Radek said quickly. “The last thing we need is whatever passes for the police looking for us. That will make it considerably harder to find Colonel Sheppard and Teyla.”
“Enough standing around,” Ronon said. “It shouldn’t be hard to find out where the procession went. Everybody saw it. We go that way, we see where they’re keeping them. We figure out a way to bust in. Let’s do it.” He strode off up the street in the direction of the imposing buildings at the top of the hill.
Radek blinked. “This is like stealing a boat, isn’t it?” he said as he followed. “The same sort of foolproof solution.” Still, he supposed this was how the action hero thing worked.