When his hard stare failed to break Vend's resolve, Sheppard turned around and stalked into the jumper. Covering him, Ronon reached toward the hatch controls.
"Vene, we must tell them," Shira blurted out suddenly.
"Tell us what?" demanded Ronon, pausing.
"It will not bring your friend back," Vene warned. "One way or another, he is dead… but one of our people was outside when the storm hit and saw a Wraith beam take Dr. McKay. By then, there was little that remained of him. His face was gone, his hands nothing but stumps."
"What?" Sheppard lunged out of his seat, catching himself on the bulkhead to stay on his feet. "Why didn't you tell us before?"
"Does it make any difference? Your friend is dead. We feared if we told you, the threat of the Wraith would drive you away."
"Well, apparently you didn't need the Wraith's help" The Colonel, it seemed, possessed more capacity for anger than Ronon had ever realized. "You're doing a really expert job of driving us away all by yourselves."
"Please," Shira called softly, her eyes darting to each of them inside the jumper. "Do not abandon us simply because our courage failed."
"Is there a problem?" Dr. Weir asked, sounding increasingly tense. "Power's becoming an issue here."
Her voice was soon replaced by Caldwell's. "Colonel, get moving. Things are going to hell and you are needed here."
For an instant, Ronon wasn't sure what their next move would be. Then, abruptly, Sheppard returned to the pilot's seat, not sparing a glance at the Polrussons. "Yes, sir."
Ronon kept his eyes fixed inside the jumper as he activated the hatch, cutting off the villagers' anguished pleas.
Teyla pushed onward, climbing the next rise even as her legs protested. She was learning just how long muscle cramps could be ignored when one possessed sufficient motivation to keep moving. Of course, time had held little meaning since the first moments of this nightmare.
After beaming into the main camp, Lieutenant Corletti had risked flying Jumper Three above the mudslide that blocked the main path to the lake. But the jumper was clearly in no condition to travel further than a rocky ledge just above the section of the mountain that had collapsed. Unfortunately, on foot, they had been forced to deviate around several uprooted trees and smaller landslides along the path.
"Jinto!" The winds were dying down, but Halling's voice was faltering after so many shouts. "Do you hear us?"
So accustomed had she become to hearing no response that the resulting cry caught her off-guard. "Father! We are here!"
Ahead of them, Corletti broke into a wide grin and hurried up the clearest path-down which Jinto came barreling.
Halling swept his son into his arms, and Teyla ran to greet the others. Six Athosians had composed the lakeside group, and now, finally, all of them had been found.
"The storm is ending," Jinto said happily, pointing to the clearing skies. "We can return home."
Over the boy's head, Halling exchanged an uneasy glance with Teyla. Sensing the need for a diversion, Corletti called Jinto and broke open a bar of chocolate for him to share with his friend Tiro.
"We should prepare for the ritual," Hailing said quietly, his gaze resolute.
"No." On this point Teyla was unwilling to negotiate. "Our deaths are not yet certain. If that changes, there will be time left for the ritual."
Halling looked like he wanted to disagree, but conceded. "Perhaps you are right. There may yet be time."
Approaching them, Corletti said, "If the weather keeps improving and I can get a little technical advice on what to do, the jumper ought to be able to get back to Atlantis even without the dampeners. It'll depend on their status"
"I agree." Teyla motioned to the group to gather.
"Why must we leave the land and go back to Atlantis?" Tiro asked, looking up from his share of the chocolate.
"I will explain as we go, but we must move quickly. Should the storm return, if nothing else, the jumper will provide us some protection."
While they covered the trail at a pace the Marines called a jog, Teyla attempted to describe the effects of the exogenesis machine and the impending nanite infestation. The adults seemed to understand, and the pace quickened. Jinto, however, frowned and hurried to run alongside her at the front of the group.
"I still don't understand what nanites are," he said.
Looking for a way to explain, Teyla suggested, "Imagine if this world were made from the small blocks that Colonel Sheppard brought for you from Earth."
Jinto nodded. "He called them Legos."
The boy matched her stride without difficulty. Proud that Halling's son was growing into such a strong young man, Teyla allowed herself a brief smile in spite of the situation. "This machine will break apart the entire world, just as you break apart those blocks in order to build new toys-except that these blocks are so small that you cannot see them without Dr. Beckett's microscope, and they are all the exact same size and color."
"What color?"
"According to Dr. McKay"-the name nearly caught in her throat; in her joy over finding her people, she had nearly forgot- ten-"gray."
Jinto glanced over his shoulder. "You mean, like that?"
Teyla paused. In the distance, a tiny portion of the mountainside, already a patchwork of leafless grays and browns because of the storm, appeared to have taken on a flatter, more ubiquitous hue, as if a portion of the land was…. smudged. It might have been her imagination, but that was a risk she was unwilling to take. "We should hurry," she called, and the pace accelerated again.
A few minutes later, she looked back. "I'm pretty sure that patch is getting bigger," Corletti said, as if reading her thoughts. "I vote we double-time it." She winced as the running jostled her injured shoulder but did not reduce her pace.
"And then?" Halling asked.
Teyla glanced over her shoulder again. This time, there was no doubt. The gray mass was expanding. "We will determine that when we arrive."
Chapter Twelve
Conflicting instincts warred in John's mind as Elizabeth asked and Caldwell commanded Jumper One to return. Learning that Rodney had been taken by a Wraith beam changed the picture considerably, in spite of what Vend had said about his condition. As badly as John wanted to stay on Polrusso and search for Rodney, Teyla was in just as much danger on the mainland. With two missing teammates pulling him in different directions, he decided to head for Atlantis. They needed Radek there, and John could return to Polrusso and begin the search after getting up to speed on the situation back home. The jumper's dialer would allow him to establish an outgoing wormhole without need for the main computer.
Assuming, of course, that he could still fly at that point. Although sitting down seemed to improve matters, his balance was off and getting worse. He'd never been prone to vertigo, but his ear was aching mercilessly, and he was beginning to suspect that the sand was somehow to blame.
On the other side of the event horizon everything seemed to tilt, and he drew in a sharp breath, grateful for the jumper's 'gatelinked autopilot. When he managed to focus again he saw that the control room doors to the balcony were open and giant fans had been set up to remove the sand. A half-dozen personnel in HAZMAT suits wandered through the contaminated area, working on the controls.
While the autopilot smoothly lifted them into the jumper bay, John shut his eyes, gathering himself for a moment before selecting a berth for Jumper One. The bay had remained relatively sand-free, and so Elizabeth was waiting for them, surrounded by a throng of scientists.
"I believe this is my cue." Radek stood up from the copilot's seat, his eyes narrowing worriedly when John didn't follow.