“Teyla?” said Sheppard again, his gaze on her intense.
Pursing her lips, Teyla hesitated before replying, “Perhaps it is as Dr McKay says. These people may have a distant warning system.”
The horn blew again, and several more people ran past. “If we’re caught out in the open, we’re toast,” said the Major. “Even in the jumper I don’t like the idea of negotiating a swarm of Darts to get to the ‘gate.” He gestured toward Lisera. “Ford, can you carry her?”
“No sweat, sir.” Aiden pulled his pack on, swung his P-90 to one side and gently scooped Lisera into his arms. The girl cringed with pain, but stoically bit her lip and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Lisera, my name’s Aiden Ford. These are my friends Major Sheppard, Dr McKay, and Teyla.”
“Meet and greet later. Move now.” Sheppard’s gaze was focused on the village, where the majority of the mob was beginning to disappear from sight. “Why is everyone going to the inn?”
Seemingly confused, Lisera took a moment to reply, “For the Chosen to lead us to safety, of course.”
Ahead of them, Aiden saw McKay shoot Sheppard an inquisitive look and mouth ‘Chosen?’ The Major gave a quick shake of his head and kept going.
Aiden could feel Lisera’s trembling, and her tears were dampening his collar. This kid was beyond terrified and well into the first stages of shock. And she was light as a feather. He’d thought her legs were kind of skinny, but the rest of her was just as bony.
Keeping pace with him, Teyla, asked, “Are these attacks common, Lisera?”
“The Wraith have not come for many years, since long before my birth.” She noisily sniffed back her tears. “It was not until recently that the raids began again.”
The backs of his two teammates went rigid, and they traded a glance. Aiden knew the Major felt responsible for waking the Wraith, but to his way of thinking, the issue wasn’t even worth debating. Leaving Colonel Sumner behind — leaving anyone behind — hadn’t been an option. Besides, Aiden had taken out plenty of the guards himself. It just didn’t make sense that one rescue mission had been enough to start this galaxy’s version of the War of the Worlds. Then again, for all anyone knew, just landing on the Wraith’s godforsaken planet might’ve been enough.
“Where is the place of safety?” Teyla asked.
“Inside the Citadel. The winged monsters cannot fly over the lands protected by the Chosen, but the Wraith will attack on foot, just as…”A tremor went through Lisera’s voice, and she leaned into Aiden’s shoulder. “Just as they did two weeks past, when my brother was taken.”
The same jolt of sick fury hit Aiden every time he heard something like this. His arms had been getting a little tired, carrying the girl, but he hugged her closer, trying to infuse her with his determination to save her. “Almost there,” he said reassuringly.
McKay pulled up short, looking at his now-dark handheld scanner. “We’re under the EM field. Everybody stick together, because the radios aren’t going to be worth much.”
“We’re at the village,” Aiden said to Lisera.
The girl’s head turned in the direction they were traveling.
“So the Chosen come to the inn to help move everyone inside the Citadel?” Sheppard asked over his shoulder.
“There is a transport there,” she replied. “But the Chosen will not wait for long, for fear that the Wraith will discover the transport and use it to penetrate the Citadel.” Her eyes turned to the massive wall encircling the city, about three miles away. “We must hurry!”
“Which direction?”
“Pass the well,” Lisera said through clenched teeth. “And then go to the left, along the waterfront.” Her terror of the Wraith clearly outweighed the pain she had to be feeling.
Walking quickly beside Aiden, Teyla drew her P-90 closer, all senses primed to detect the first sign of attack. He met her eyes, and she shook her head. If the Wraith were coming, they were still out of range of whatever it was she used to perceive them.
Ahead of them, the village streets were deserted. Aiden glanced around, noting possible places of refuge. Most of the single-story structures were made of wood, black stone and some sort of thatching on the roofs. Fishing nets were strung all over the place, and a strong odor drew his attention to racks of drying squid-looking things.
They passed a couple of piles of rubble that might once have been buildings, before they’d become the targets of some artillery-level weapons.
Lisera’s voice hitched as she explained, “The second time the Wraith’s winged monsters came, they breathed fire on the market stalls. Then the Chosen used their powers to protect the village and the monsters fell from the sky.” Her voice dissolved into whimpers. The pain was really getting to her now.
The Major’s head snapped back, and he started to say something, but a growing commotion nearby diverted his attention. They reached a stone well featuring an old-fashioned hand pump, and looked left down a cobblestone road that opened out into an expansive square. The area was rapidly filling with people, crowding against each other, some spilling down toward beach. The tension level was skyrocketing. As they drew closer, Aiden began to make out what was being said.
“The Chosen have forsaken us.”
“The transport cannot take us to safety!”
“The Wraith will kill us all!” came the increasingly desperate cries.
Lisera stiffened, and her arms tightened around Aiden’s neck. He felt her heart pounding and her breathing quicken. Wild-eyed, she began to sob and shake her head, saying, “No, no,” over and over again.
Red-faced and panting from exhaustion, people ran up behind them, desperate to force their way through, but there was nowhere to go. In order to better see, a few climbed on top of boats that had been hauled up onto the beach.
Jostled by the surging crowds, Lisera cried out in pain. “We’re going to die!”
“Hey, it’s okay. We’ll be safe. I promise.” Aiden tried to inject as much reassurance as he could into his tone, but he had to admit, he wasn’t feeling too comfortable with the general situation.
“My brother said that,” Lisera blurted through her tears. “Then the ghosts came, and…and I ran. My brother came after me. That’s when the Wraith took him. And now they will take me!”
“The Wraith are coming,” someone cried, pointing to the sky.
Shadows passed across the face of the sun. “They come!”
Chapter Three
It was nothing more than a flock of large seabirds. John didn’t have to ask Teyla; the look on her face was enough. The Wraith weren’t about to start feeding on everyone, but hysteria sure was. Unless these people calmed down, someone else was going to get trampled. Possibly a lot of someones. “Okay, everyone, just hold on a minute!”
Maybe a few villagers heard him, but it was tough to tell. “Well done, very effective,” Rodney shouted through the screams.
“Any more inspired ideas?”
“As a matter of fact—” John leaped on top of what looked like a market cart full of reddish fruit, and fired a short burst from his P-90 over the heads of the crowd. A few bullets ripped clumps of sod from the roof of the nearest building, and sent bits of timber and an ornate weather vane-looking thing flying.
“Yes.”
It had been a risky maneuver, potentially triggering the very thing that he was trying to avoid. But the flash and the explosive clamor from his weapon had the desired effect. A few high-pitched screams abruptly cut off when everyone except his teammates fell to the ground. Only the sound of distant horns and surf rolling up the shingled beach penetrated the shocked silence.
“That’s better. Now that I have everyone’s attention, who’s in charge here?”
A big, yellow-bearded guy, dressed in filthy clothes and a generous coating of fish scales, cautiously got to his feet. Before John could address him, Teyla stepped forward and said, “We are sorry to have further alarmed you.” She tossed John a slightly disapproving frown.