The others all nodded and agreed, though some a little more quickly than others. But Ronon shook his head.
“I’ll do what’s necessary, yes,” he answered. “But this wasn’t. And I won’t kill innocent people just because you think the Wraith could draw information out of them.”
“That’s not good enough,” Nekai told him bluntly. “If you go around second-guessing me on a mission, it could get all of us killed. You’ve got to be with us completely.”
“I won’t follow blindly,” Ronon insisted. “I’m not a drone. None of us are.”
“No, we’re a team,” Nekai replied. “We’re the V’rdai. And you’re either one of us — or you’re not.”
Ronon didn’t like where this was heading. He glanced around quickly, noticing that the others had formed a loose circle around him, and took a step back from Nekai, half-raising his hands in front of him. “I am V’rdai,” he insisted. “But that doesn’t mean I’ll agree to mindless slaughter.”
“If you won’t follow orders, you’re not one of us,” Nekai said coldly. “And if you’re not one of us” — suddenly his pistol was up, and pointing straight at Ronon’s chest — “you’re one of them. You’re a threat to our existence.”
“Hold on!” Adarr exclaimed, reaching out and trying to push Nekai’s arm back down. Nekai shoved him away, never taking his eyes off Ronon. “This is crazy! He is one of us! You know that. Ancestors, you trained him! This is getting out of hand.”
“We can’t trust him,” Lanara snapped, her words almost a snarl. “He would have saved those men if he could have. Next time he might side with them over us — or with the Wraith instead!”
“You’re insane,” Turen told her, hatred making each word razor-sharp. “I trust Ronon with my life — and I trust him a lot more than I trust you.”
“Let’s all just calm down,” Frayne suggested, holding both hands out to show he at least wasn’t reaching for a gun. “Let’s talk about this. It’s just a misunderstanding.”
“It isn’t,” Ronon told his bunkmate sadly, though he was still watching Nekai and that pistol. “Things have changed. Nekai has changed. And he wants us to change with him. But I can’t do that. I can’t be a cold-blooded killer. Of Wraith, yes — I’ll happily kill every last one of them. But not of people who never did anything to us. That’s just not right. It’s not who we are. And it’s not who we want to become.”
“There must be some middle ground,” Adarr insisted, trying to put himself between Nekai and Ronon. “We all still want the same thing.”
“Maybe,” Ronon agreed. “But not the same way.” He watched for the opening he knew was coming, and when Nekai’s attention wandered just long enough for him to sidestep Adarr, Ronon was ready. His hand reached to his belt and pulled free one of the two rough metal cylinders hanging there. By the time Nekai had a clear line of fire again, Ronon had the object in his hand, which was down at his side and slightly in back, just out of Nekai’s view.
“I don’t want to shoot you,” Nekai told him. “But I will if it’s the only way.”
“The only way to what?” Ronon demanded. “To get blind obedience? To turn our war on the Wraith into a war against every living creature in the galaxy? If that’s what you want, then yes, it is the only way.” He stalked forward, looming over Nekai. “Go ahead. Shoot me. Because I won’t become some mindless killer for you.”
“Back off,” Nekai warned, but Ronon ignored him and took another step. The gun was almost against his chest now. “I will kill you, Ronon.”
“I know you will,” Ronon admitted. And it was true — he could see it in his mentor's eyes. Would kill any of us. Killing is all you have left. He admired Nekai, and respected him. But now he saw that the years of hunting, and of watching others die, had eaten away at the Vadai leader. Losing Setien had probably been the last straw.
"Maybe so," Nekai agreed softly. But at least it's something.
Ronon edged forward a little bit more, closing the last of the distance, and felt the pistol barrel poking into him. Do it, then, he urged. Kill me. Kill me!>
His sudden aggression unnerved Nekai, who reflexively took a step back, trying to free his pistol again. And that was the second opening Ronon needed.
His free hand lashed out, catching Nekai's wrist and shoving it hard to the side so Nekai's shot went wide. At the same time, he hurled the cylinder behind the other man, then spun on one foot, maintaining his grip so Nekai pivoted with him.
The flash grenade detonated with a sharp hiss and a quick bang, and a brilliant burst of light lit the small clearing. Ronon had turned his head away and squeezed his eyes shut tight, but none of the others had been that lucky. They all stood clutching at their eyes, blinded and half-dazed.
Nekai had been facing the grenade when it went off, his eyes still wide from the shock of Ronon's sudden move, and his body went rigid from shock. Ronon released the other man's wrist and let him crumple to the ground, then leaped over and past him, through the gap that had created. In two quick bounds he was back past the rock he had recently used for shelter, and then he was running for his life. It wouldn't take the others long to recover, and once they did he knew they pursue him. His only hope was to make it to the ancestral ring before they caught up with him, and hope he could figure out how to open a portal and run somewhere they couldn't find him.
Of course, the minute he passed out of range from the other Vadai, his tracking device would become visible to the Wraith again. Which meant he was about to have two groups hunting him instead of just one.
Well, thought Ronon as he ran along a narrow ledge and leaped over a small ravine, I never did like things to be too easy.
He just hoped this wasn't more than he could handle.
Chapter Twenty-one
Rodney stared at the pale blob, all he could make out of his companion in the trickle of light filtering into their cramped hiding place. How, how did you escape? He asked finally, his voice hoarse from disuse. He had sat, spellbound and silent, through the last portion of the Satedan's story. You get the Stargate to open?
He felt more than saw Ronon's nod. Through sheer luck, the big Satedan admitted. Nekai worked out a way to lock down a gate, but it wasn't completely reliable yet and so he didn't always use it. That time, he hadn't, which was good if he had, I have been sunk. Instead I banged on the console a bunch, and somehow I activated it. I was sure the other Vadai were right behind me by then, so I dove through. Then I just ran as fast as I could. I knew the gate would close almost immediately, so if they weren't right behind me they have to reopen it. Nekai had said he could recall the last location dialed but by that point I wasn't sure I believed him. Either way, the more distance I could put between them and me, the better.
And they didn't come after you?
He thought Ronon shrugged. I have no idea, was the answer. The world I found had a few villages, one decent-sized city and a tiny spaceport. I stole a ship and took off. Ditched it on the next inhabitable planet I could find, located a Stargate, and managed to activate it. After that I just kept moving.â
So you never saw them again? — Rodney asked.
Never.
And you sure this is them now?â
Again he felt the air shift as his companion nodded. Positive.
Because of the shuttle? The fact that Ronon had come up with that idea didn't surprise him the Satedan had proven over their time together that he was very good at thinking on his feet, at adapting materials, and at causing mayhem. The shuttle setup was a perfect combination of those three traits. Though clearly these Vadai had refined the technique over the years. There hadn't been a second ship lurking nearby, and the shuttle had clearly been rigged to explode when activated or when it registered a certain amount of energy nearby. Like from their Jumper powering up to leave.